THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER
The most
underrated film in my eyes of 2012 was “The Perks Of Being A Wallflower”, a
delightful little film that was so much more than it appeared. Before seeing the film, I assumed that it
would be just another silly high-school film with little depth, filled with
cardboard cutouts as characters and would be clichéd to the extreme. It is safe to say that I was very wrong with
my assumption. The film which was
written and directed by Stephen Chbosky (who adapted his own novel of the same
name) is a beautiful piece of cinema that may be as important to today’s
generation as the film’s of John Hughes were to mine. What surprised me most about “The Perks Of
Being A Wallflower” was its depth and the number of serious issues that it
tackles, but it does so with a lightness of touch that makes the film infinitely
enjoyable to watch. That doesn’t mean
that Chbosky tackles these issues in a trivial manner, instead he gives them
the respect and honesty that they deserve, but he doesn’t let the film drown
within the character’s sadness; amazingly he is able to make the film very
entertaining even as we watch our characters go through terrible pain. The issues that the film and the characters
deal with are depression, friendship, dealing with the aftereffects of sexual
abuse, love, suicide, sexual identity and the beauty of life itself. I may have made the film sound very heavy and
a bit of a downer, but it is the opposite, as the lack of heavy handedness in
regards to these issues allows the film to rise to significant heights as the
joy of friendship and life is ultimately celebrated the most.
Performances
within the film are superb with everyone working together in this ensemble
cast. Logan Lerman is outstanding as our
main character and he does an excellent job of balancing the light and darkness
within this demanding and complex role.
The highest praise I can give Emma Watson, is that not once did I think
about Hermione Granger, her role from the “Harry Potter” films, once. With this film, she has left her most famous
character behind and has shown just how large a range she has; she is
magnificient. Oh and I loved her hair in
this. Likewise Ezra Miller is miles away
from his most well known role from “We Need To Talk About Kevin”. Gone is the dark and disturbing psychopath,
and in return we get the very fun and openly gay Patrick. It is a very flashy role and Miller nails it,
and is the heartbeat (in regards to fun, that is) to this film. I honestly do not have enough nice things to
say about this film; it was a magnificent surprise and is most certainly 2012
most underrated film. I recommend
everyone check it out the first chance they can get.
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