The Perks of Being a Wallflower

A film I went to see on a whim, a film which can essentially be summed up in a word: Nostalgia. Main reason I crawled out of bed on my day off to see it? Morbid curiosity, plus I now live exactly one minute from the cinema so no excuse if I want to see a film on a whim. Unfortunately I got to the cinema a few minutes late and discovered to my horror it was full of students and 12 year olds, are they on holiday again? Did no one mention this to me? I wanted to hurl my shoes at them, they were a loud obnoxious bunch... In fairness it's the first day it's out, not sure what I was thinking... I do usually love sitting in an empty theatre on my own with my feet up and freedom of movement. Or at least being able to openly cheer. I should schedule my cinema trips better.

So this is a unique film for a couple of reasons, first would be that this is the first book to film adaptation that I've seen in a while which actually has the original author of the novel directing their own film, for me. Therefore I would expect a great level of respect for the original material and a little bit extra flair in the interpretation. Not that I had read the book, but to this end I expected it to be good, instead of a barely explained plot threads that left hanging and a stupid scene to scene expository dialogue which make little to no sense to people who haven't been privy to the original text.

Then there is the main players, predominantly the dazzling Emma Watson and intriguing Ezra Miller and that kid who played Percy Jackson. Oh and Egg... I mean Mae Whitman. Also there is the soundtrack, the books, the all around pretentious, these are universally accepted as cool by the right kind of people therefore we all respect and secretly admire them for their awesome taste, you know... That kind of thing. Appreciating literature, The Smiths and having inexplicably messed up personal history unites the characters and propels the film forward, well actually making shitty teenage decisions moves the film forward, but it's all there. 

Ok, the basic premise is that the main character Charlie is beginning his time as a freshman at high school, his best friend killed himself a few months before, he's on edge, afraid to put himself out there, plus he has a past of awkward relations with his aunt. Fortunately there is a colourful Ezra Miller lighting up his wood craft class, he's a senior but hey who cares, they soon become friends, he meets his step-sister, they love 'good' music, they are outrageous and passionate crazed folks who celebrate being exciting fun and unique. All three of the main characters have had traumatic pasts with regards to their relationships, but it probably should be stressed that their issues stem through the faults of others and the fact that the characters simply love the people they feel they 'deserve' - aw schucks. Poor Ezra Miller. But then it doesn't matter, they have music, they have passion, they have each other. Oh and these kids love making and giving each other mix tapes, it's a thing, they all do it, it's a forgotten art.

Best to start with the core three, and to begin with my biggest gripe and disappointment and unfortunately the weak link. Oh Emma Watson, everyone has been so polite about her performance, most have given her the cursory passing grade for outgrowing Hermione and being someone else. I must stress, she was someone else, she was not Hermione, but she still wasn't quite acting like a believable human being. The girl is beautiful, I'll accept Charlie's head over heels infatuation with her on that respect, who wouldn't love Emma Watson, the most truthful statement about her in this film is that she has beautiful brown eyes. We are supposed to believe that her character, Sam, is this beautiful fucked up girl, she was a bit of a smutty mess in her earlier years, she had some hard times, she struggles to concentrate at school, she's a beautiful mess. It's all said, all implied, all explained, and I wanted to believe it in her performance, not one bit of it reached her beautiful eyes, her voice... anything, or at least I didn't see it. Shame too. She did so well at mastering an American accent yet she managed to avoid conveying anything more than stoicism and the occasional bleat of emotion. Don't argue with me and claim that's how her character has learnt to cope, or that's just how she is. She has a crazy passionate and ludicrous side to her that knows dance routines with her step-brother, cheers at football games and loves to have a good old party, yet Emma Watson doesn't quite have the charisma nor charm to convey that part of her character. Plus watching that girl kiss is just... awkward... She just can't sell passion.

In complete contrast to his sister 'step-sister' Ezra Miller lights up the screen with every single second he is on screen. My unbridled affection for this man's performance is the shining of beacon of hope throughout this film. Going from being in the visceral and disturbing We Need to Talk About Kevin to this, a likeable and outrageous senior at high school, now that takes great skill. My common complaint about actors is that they never quite convince me of their existence as real people within the confines of their world, plus long camera shots at stoic faces as the actors desperately try to convey something dramatic always forces me to scream 'ACTING' at the screen, somewhat sarcastically, especially if the given actors are failing miserably at looking anything less than a little bit spaced - I'm looking at Tobey Maguire oh and Emma Watson... Sorry guys. Ezra Miller needs none of my goading, the boy can act and I would let him act all over me.... Wait I had a point here... Flawless, the boy is flawless, he lights up every scene, even the most contrived, perfection it must be said. It doesn't bare much to go into the plot of the film in order to describe why Ezra Miller is so good but it's needless to say he brings shades of light and dark to his character which can only be conveyed through skill, so, yeah I could wax lyrical about how convinced I was about Patrick's existence in this universe, even to the extent where I would suspend my disbelief to allow that he would accept the vulnerable and impressionable and most importantly young Charlie into his friendship circle. He saw something in Charlie which prevented him from allowing the age-gap and inexperience from abandoning the kid, he even tried to impart what wisdom he had on him, ultimately revealing how vulnerable he was himself to Charlie and sharing with him. All the cornerstones of friendship but most importantly extremely fun to watch.

Another strong case for this film largely succeeding is the strength of it's lead, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief playing Charlie... Wait he has a name (cursory glance at IMDb) ok... It's actually Logan Lerman. In fairness he a perfect lead, a blend of a face you didn't want to punch and a sincerity you could invest in, a damaged kid but indescribably sweet you simply wanted to root for. He made mistakes, we all do, he handled them less than gracefully but he's growing and that's the point, we're all learning right there with him, even if we know the lessons he is facing with wide-eyed sorrow. He never once loses his passion for escape be it through music, literature or fantasising about a certain brown eyed girl. An admirable lead, and did I mention I didn't want to punch his face? It's a good sign for a coming of age film.

So the plot meanders through Charlie's first year of high school, he's hanging out with seniors, always a bust move as they'll be moving on at the end of year, but still he gets all those high school experiences crammed into one year; they get him drunk, high, loved up, rejected, kissed, almost de-flowered, he gets in a fist-fight and he has a bit of a gay moment to cap it off. Can't say I'm not impressed but it wouldn't be a 'coming of age' film without a reliance on all the go to stations of growing up. It's not that I'm criticising the film for insisting in jamming all of this in, it's just something that stuck out to me, this is what happens when you're young and a bit crazed and most of the time it all happens ridiculously fast. I won't say it's realistic but then again all of this can and probably did happen to someone, it's the dramas we all find ourselves thrust into at some point. It handles them adeptly and weaves them in without any of it feeling forced, although as much as I love a trip to the Rocky Horror Picture Show as anyone, it was a little bit too far... Still, get to see Emma Watson in her bra, Ezra Miller in heels and fishnets... Why am I complaining? 

Of  course there is the incredibly carefully selected soundtrack. It's possible to fall in love with someone who loves the same music as you, music that makes you feel amazing, true stories. The fact that the three of the main characters can't pin one of David Bowie's most well known songs seemed to be a little far-fetched, and this is someone who knew the song from when I was a small child for no other reason than it used to be on the radio in my grandad's car nearly every time I was in it. This was during the early 90s too, come on guys, it's Bowie! Still, if there were a better 'tunnel song' then I doubt I could think of one. Fine, I'll let them off, but why couldn't they just know this was a great song, not just dance around the fact. Apart from that the soundtrack will likely be torrented by people who likely already have all the songs on their iPods already. Not that that won't stop them.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a film which appears to be about misfits, it's about the people who feel like they don't fit, who don't deserve happiness, love, yet who find joy in music, each other and freedom of expression. It's a film about bloody teenagers doing and feeling what they want. I was sitting in the cinema feeling nostalgic for when I thought The Smiths were the best thing I'd ever heard, when I first read Catcher in the Rye and felt something, when I first got drunk and I lay in the grass and thought, 'Well shit.' It's just about life being messy and getting the hell on with it and loving it, every coming of age film ever you say, yes, but this one has a retro soundtrack and a gorgeous set of main characters. It has some sad  emotional journeys to drag you through, not unfamiliar ones, and that's why it works; it works for people of an age, people who can recall what the characters were feeling and recognise the culture they were immersed in, so probably not the 12 year olds giggling at the back of cinema, but all the students and everyone else in there. I felt a pang of recognition at Charlie's first kiss, almost made me cry, I felt the pain when he was cast aside by his friends, luckily he had his redemption so I muttered he was a lucky bastard under my breath but yeah, I got swept along with it. My issue was that as I have officially been out of the cinema 6 hours and it has taken me nearly three of those to try type this up, I felt something in the cinema, it quickly dissipated and that's my problem, it didn't get any more than skin deep. By tomorrow I'll have slept it off and will simply recall the film as good, not bad. Perhaps it's me, I want more from my films. Perhaps it was an admirable effort, perhaps it was really good but I am easily distracted... Probably.

Oh! Oh! And this will be the 1am delirium talking but I forgot:
What are the perks of being a wallflower? 
I hear you ask?
You see all, you're an observer, you learn more from observing. Is this the truth? I don't think the film would have you believe this as our main guy learns way more from doing... But I've always been a fan of sitting back and watching. Doing stuff is tiring, and hard work, and easier to fuck up, been there done that, I prefer the wallflower. But the film thinks it's better to live. Whose advice are you more likely to take? In the long run, really?