Best high school movie since Hughes?

Rating: 8/10 (7 June 2013)

There is a time that every American teenager must go through: high school, the great empire of cliques, bullies, mean teachers. If your high school experience was similar to mine in anyway, you probably felt like the one watching on the sidelines, your presence dominated by the more popular, well-off kids that hosted the parties you went to. And then, there were those special friends that helped you feel awesome. In a world where the high school film is, much thanks to movies like "American Pie" or "Superbad," seen as lowbrow raunchy messes about losing virginity. "Perks" seems to take the book its based on and create a teen film that carries the charm we haven't seen in the genre since the John Hughes era. Issues explored such as family tension and homophobia make it as touching as "Breakfast Club," while Miller's whimsical performance and the "stay young while you can" message hearkens back to "Ferris Bueller." If you miss movies that truly capture what it means to be a teenager.