For a movie about first love, the loss of innocence, and finding that group of friends who have no problem with being weird, look no further than “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.” The movie is based on the best selling novel by Stephan Chbosky, and it does it no shame. In predictable fashion, the book is better than the movie, but the movie still does a fantastic job portraying the characters and concepts that needed to be expressed. The story follows the confessions of Charlie, played by Logan Lerman, as he writes to his “dear friend” in his first days of high school. He is a loner. His one and only friend from middle school committed suicide, and he still expects to continue life as a “wallflower.” He is quickly mistaken when he meets fellow outsiders Patrick, played by Ezra Miller, and his sister Sam, played by Emma Watson. Charlie quickly becomes introduced to the world of the “Rocky Horror Picture Show,” first love, drugs, alcohol and much disappointment. The movie does a fantastic job of not glamorizing high school; instead portraying it in a realistic and believable way. This is not “Mean Girls,” where it tells the story of the populars, but a story about the rest of us who, in those days, were dealing with hiding sexuality, changing reputations and spending a Saturday night listening to music or driving through tunnels. Emma Watson proves that she can shed the skin of the know-it-all witch, Hermione Granger, and take on complex adult roles. Her character, Sam, is Charlie’s love interest, but the character is far from a predictable Mary Sue stereotype. Her character deals with her tattered reputation, her college boyfriend, supporting her gay brother and applying to college, all at once! There are dimensions that come through in her character which foreshadow the great talent Watson might surely become in her future as an actor.
