Movie Review: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Last year, a friend recommended I read The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I had no idea what it was about, but I trusted her judgment and blogged a review about it. At the time, I wasn’t overly optimistic about the book. In fact, it didn’t even show up on my list of the best books of2011. But for some reason when I heard there was a movie coming out, I had to see it. I re-read the book, but it took a long time to watch it because it wasn’t showing in any theaters around me.

I finally found it in a small, rundown theater near me where admission is five dollars, the chairs don’t recline, and the floor is cement. There were three people there to watch the movie – myself and these two girls. They said it was their fourth time watching it…it was their favorite book. I’m not going to explain the plot too much in this blog because I thought I gave a good description in the book review.

The author wrote the screenplay and was heavily involved in making the movie. As a result, the movie resembled the book almost to a tee. The book was written as letters from the main character, but the movie did a great job acting out the letters while also sharing some of the main character’s thoughts. I would go so far to say that this is the best adaption of a book made into a movie that I have ever seen.

I also thought this was an incredibly tough movie to watch. I felt the same way reading the book. The subject matter is deep. Mental health, bullying, homosexuality, sex, drugs, abuse, love. The story covers it all.

I'd like to end with some quotes from the movie/book. As I watched, I realized how good the story really is. And I’m big on quotes. There’s two short ones, then one that needs a little background…

“But even if we don’t have the power to choose where we came from, we can still choose where we go from there.”

“We accept the love we think we deserve.”

There's this exchange at the end of the story, when Sam asks Charlie, “Why didn’t you ask me out when the whole Craig thing happened?” He doesn’t have an answer. She starts to lecture him on how he should be himself and he’s only being a friend when he’s being honest. Then she says, “If somebody likes me, I want them to like the real me, not what they think I am. And I don’t want them to carry it around inside. I want them to show me, so I can feel it, too. I want them to be able to do whatever they want around me. And if they do something I don’t like, I’ll tell them.” Re-read that. It's perfect.

My rating for the movie The Perks of Being a Wallflower: 4.5 stars out of 5. Get the book here!