The Perks of Being a Wallflower [DVD]

Once in a while, you are lucky to come across a film that feels just right. "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" is one of those treasures. That was possible as it was directed by Stephen Chbosky, a man who wrote The Perks of Being a Wallflower (as well as screenplay for the film). Therefore, the film is very close and follows the book precisely, although, in comparison to the book "The Perks of being of Wallflower" (which is a truly engaging coming of age story), the film did not shine so brighly for me. Ocasionally, it is a bit hard to follow and I was constantly thinking of people who did not read the book and how would they enjoy the film (as the book provides much detailed and solid background - some things are not clear from the film, and a lot of problems, e.g. violent boyfriend - are not given enough depth and resolved a bit too quickly; a poem Charlie writes and reads at Christmas - extremely moving scene even in the film, which was deleted (!), but when I read it in the book I almost cried). But it's not a case about book v film!From what I could see on screen, "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" felt right, it perfectly captured all of the turmoil of growing up, highs and lows of adolescence in the late 80's - early 90's America's East Coast youth, and youth anytime, anywhere, I would imagine, with the self-made compilation albums (God, I made loads of those in school!), first crushes, various insecurities, schools' most popular people and their secrets - have not all of us experienced these things?I am not going to summorise the story, you will have to watch the film. Besides, I imagine a lot of people read the book. But just take my word that this is a really good, enjoyable film that is thoughtful and wonderful and so worth seeing. And it features wonderful actors.There is some great acting, especially from AMAZING Ezra Miller. Seriosly, this is the film where he truly shines (he also shined in We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011) [DVD], but that film was emotionally hard to watch and my view of Ezra's acting was somewhat tarnished). But here, for his portrait of Patrick, I award him my personal Oscar. He performs, he is so comfortable in his skin and in his role, that he steals the show from [even] Emma Watson (that has a major film experience behind her), basically, screen lights up whenever Ezra is in the frame.Same goes for the soundtrack - another star. I am getting it as soon as I finish this review (even though, as some reviewers pointed out, the OST does not contain all the wonderful music featured in the film).Absolutely worth seeing. I was thinking about 4 stars because I still prefer the book to the film. But then I thought, to hell with it, such a great acting, directing, music, story, everything. Everything about it is perfect. Especially if you like this kind of stories (a fair warning: perhaps, if you are more into Action/Thrillers, this will not rock your boat... But give it a try, anyway?!)P.S. If you like the coming of age stories, check out Adventureland [DVD]- also human and cool.

I doubt I can add anything new to the dozens of five star reviews this film has already had here, but I have to say that I had read the book and didn't "get" it and I watched the film and completely got it. I love the naturalness of the acting, so unselfconscious and unshowy. The cast are so convincing - they are those people, totally. And I would be the first to get all socialist realist about the first world problems in the suburbs, but the story finds something universal in this suburban coming of age story, in the same way "Donnie Darko" does. You never once think about poor little rich kids. The camera work, the lighting, the script are so well judged. You never feel like a voyeur of somebody's emotional life, so unusual. And I loved the attachment to retro, the Anglophile streak a mile wide, the genuine love for those great shards of eighties culture, the Smiths and the Cocteau Twins. I loved the straightforwardness and honesty about some very difficult subjects. What the film says about sex and belonging seems to me helpful and useful and right. All this and it's good-looking and charming, the whole thing. Five stars.

The first time I saw The Perks, I was stunned: this coming-of-age story got me hooked right away! Great characters, a simple yet touching plot and young, new actors, what more does a movie need?This DVD was delivered to me really fast, it was pre-ordered, so when the DVD was released on 11th February, it was send to Belgium right away and 2 days later I was able to enjoy The Perks once again! Yay!

From watching the trailer, I got a slight understanding of the film; guy has no friends when he starts his first year in high school and struggles to make them also, he then finally meets some nice people who befriend him, which to one he falls in love with.Whilst the base of the story is just as I had predicted, the film as a whole was so much more.Charlie who is the main character is extremely socially awkward, and you get hints close to the beginning that something in his past had caused him to be this way, eventually you start finding out Charlie has a very deep story in the past which is gradually explained through as the film goes on by flash-backs, you will eventually find out why he is the person he is today, this combined with the journey through his first year with his new friends who also have different personal issues makes this film an emotional roller-coaster.I don't want to ruin the story for those who haven't seen it, so I'm not going to go into further detail.On a final note, I do want to point out that the cast for this film was perfect, they were all brilliant at their roles and made the film very believable. I also want to say Emma Watson did an especially good job at portraying her character 'Sam'. As she's widely recognised for playing Hermione from the Harry Potter films, it must have been hard for her to shake off that image that has been imprinted into peoples minds throughout these years, which she has done so brilliantly in this film, this shows how good she is of an actress.I would highly recommend this film for those who enjoy drama/romantic based films and I certainly will be buying this film when it comes out on DVD/Blu-ray.

Such a lovely movie