Perks Of Being A Wallflower

Perks Of Being A Wallflower Review

November 12, 2012

The novel and film The Perks of Being A Wallflower has been a serious hit with young hipsters; does it live up to the hype? The amazing soundtrack and chemistry doesn't make up for the unlikeable plot reveal.

I first read Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower as a teenager at university. All the cool kids raved about it, and I was certain I’d love it just as much thanks to the endless music references. Despite having almost no recollection of the plot, unusual for a literature graduate like myself; I remember hating the way it was written. When attempting to reread it before the adaptation was released at the cinema, I had exactly the same feelings towards the narration style. Lazy, juvenile and unlikeable, it angered me that such a poorly written novel was so popular. Although it didn’t make me quite so angry this time around, I still didn’t get what all the fuss was about. Thankfully The Perks of Being a Wallflower is void of the painful narration that makes the novel so popular with the kids on Tumblr.

A coming of age story, The Perks of Being a Wallflower follows Charlie (Logan Lerman) throughout his first year of high school. Isolated and lonely, he eventually makes friends with Patrick (or “Nothing”, the fantastic Ezra Miller) and Sam (Emma Watson); stepbrother and sister and their oddball group of friends. Based on the novel by Stephen Chbosky, also the director; it captures the highs and lows of growing up.

Surprisingly, I enjoyed The Perks of Being a Wallflower for the most part. The soundtrack is superb (and thankfully features Charlie’s same love for Awake by The Smiths as it does in the book), the casting is fantastic (Miller especially), and the chemistry between the friends is more than believable. Still, it shares the unlikeable climax from the novel inevitably knocking the score down. At times beautiful, it is still nauseating in places. The often quoted “we accept the love we think we deserve” creeps in, as does “And in that moment, I swear we were infinite” (I hate to admit it; I enjoyed that one).

Thanks to the unlikeable reveal in the plot, I can’t see myself watching The Perks of Being a Wallflower again. The loneliness, isolation and struggle to fit in will appeal to anyone who has battled with popularity (or lack of it), taking solace in literature and music. As Little White Lies suggests; The Myth of the American Sleepover is a far less generic, more impressive and touching take on growing up.

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12 Responses so far.

AndyK says:

November 12, 2012 at 8:49 pm

Spot on here, Amy. There are certain aspects I enjoyed but while a lot of people raved about Perks, I just wasn’t feeling it. Maybe it’s because I’m a grumpy 32-year-old, but I believe I can still recognise a good film about teenage angst when I see one!

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- Amy says:
  
  November 14, 2012 at 7:32 am
  
  Thanks very much for your comment, Andy. Glad I’m not the only one who isn’t swept away by it all! I think I must have already been quite cynical as a teenager when first reading the novel! There are so many superb coming of age/teenage films. I think they work so well because they’re not focussing on quite as many negative things as Perks.
  
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The Focused Filmographer says:

November 12, 2012 at 9:42 pm

a very interesting take on the film. I will agree that the reveal in the plot was unlikable. and odd. but the characters in the film really took over for me. Each of them, wallflowers in their own way and their own struggles going unnoticed by most.

I liked it quite a bit. But, then again, I hadn’t read the book prior. I usually do AFTER watching the movie. Nice review.

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- Amy says:
  
  November 14, 2012 at 7:28 am
  
  Thanks very much for your comment I may have enjoyed it more if I had read the book after seeing the film, but I was too het up about trying to be a cool kid at the time! The characters were great, and Emma Watson was no way near as annoying as I thought she’d be!
  
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Courtney says:

November 12, 2012 at 10:35 pm

I really loved this movie, and went into it completely blind. I hadn’t read the book, and all I knew about the film was what I saw the the trailer. Really great, but it’s a lot to take in, especially not knowing what you’re getting into.

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- Amy says:
  
  November 14, 2012 at 7:25 am
  
  Thanks for your comment, Courtney. I’m not sure if I would have enjoyed it more if I’d have gone into it blind. It all slowly came back to me as I was watching it, so I knew what to expect. I did enjoy a lot about it, it’s a shame I just didn’t enjoy the plot.
  
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Mark says:

November 13, 2012 at 1:29 pm

This just might be my favorite film of 2012. One of the most heartbreaking tales of adolescence I have ever seen.

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- Amy says:
  
  November 14, 2012 at 7:19 am
  
  Thanks for the comment, Mark. I can understand why you loved it, it just didn’t win me over.
  
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Fernando Quintero says:

November 14, 2012 at 7:48 am

Nice review as always, Amy. Surprised to see you didn’t quite loved it. It’s been fantastically well-received so I thought you’d fall in love with it as well. Haven’t seen it yet so can’t really comment on it.

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- Amy says:
  
  November 15, 2012 at 8:57 am
  
  Thanks Fernando I know, it has all the markers of me loving it: indie genre, awkward characters and a stonking soundtrack. Just left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth, unfortunately.
  
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James says:

November 15, 2012 at 4:52 pm

Nice review – as you mentioned, some of the dialogue in the trailer is pretty sickening but without having seen the film, I can’t really comment. I reckon that I’m going to catch this one on DVD, I had been planing on missing it altogether but the reviews that I’ve been reading have got me interested in seeing it now.

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Nostra says:

November 16, 2012 at 11:04 am

Wow, I’m surprised by that score and don’t understand why you’d knock off points for the reveal. I thought it was original and very unexpected. I didn’t see it coming. Reviewed this myself yesterday.

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