Member review

“Welcome to the island of misfit toys”. This is one of The Perks of Being a Wallflower’s most iconic lines and one that upon my first-time hearing, I winced and thought ‘Oh god, they really put that in there”. Those singular seven words unify to form a sentence practically reverberating with such in-your-face teenage angst, that I was immediately sure that the (let's face it, cheesy) dialogue would dampen the rest of the scene.

Eighty minutes later and I’m in love with the film.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is by no means a perfect film, or a perfect representation of high school, or a perfect anything. It’s much like a high school freshman in this way, stumbling throughout the course of its duration and haphazardly tripping and very nearly falling numerous times. But also like a high school freshman, it has nerve, and slowly matures and cultivates its own insurgent spirit that seizes you and dares to never let go.

Right from its birth, the Perks of Being a Wallflower was a rare case: the director, Stephen Chbosky, is also the writer of the original book that the movie encapsulates – meaning that this time, fans cannot murmur about how the director completely wrecked the magic the author invoked in the original source material. Stephen Chbosky lends the bittersweet characters of Charlie, Sam and Patrick, wonderfully heartfelt voices that give the film an endearing energy and warmth that I find is lacking in many of the more recent coming-of-age flicks.

The acting from the main trio is generally favourable, with Logan Lerman giving the best performance as Charlie and Emma Watson presenting a commendable and surprisingly convincing performance as Sam. Note that I have yet to touch upon Ezra Miller’s take on Patrick; this performance and daredevil character is a double-edged sword.

On one hand, Ezra Miller is mesmerising on screen, infusing an irresistible gleam of life into the already riotous Patrick. He is a notorious scene-stealer. On the other, Patrick as a character is not explored deeply enough as he deserves to be, often simply serving the role of a vehicle to move other characters’ stories forward.

Nonetheless, the Perks of Being a Wallflower manages somehow, to simultaneously explore matters like mental health and feeling marginalised, whilst also maintaining an almost wistful or whimsical tone throughout most of the film, with some scenes making me feel like an invisible part of the motley crew of outcasts. Chbosky has made a film that is very technically-imperfect and I cannot say it is revolutionary; but what I can say is that I haven’t enjoyed watching a movie as much I did whilst watching this one, in ages – and that feeling of pure joy is what has earned this movie a seat on my list of all-time favourite films.

The homage to the Rocky Horror Picture Show was ridiculously charming and the scene wherein Patrick, as Dr. Frank, lip-syncs Don’t Dream It Be It, is one of my favourites with its dreamy tone and use of lighting. However, the award for favourite scene must go to the ending part. It's a simple one: Charlie, Sam and Patrick driving through the motorway, listening to Heroes by David Bowie (by the way, a genius song choice which I cannot listen to anymore without thinking of this film).

What’s so notable about this scene is an amalgam of things: the cinematography capturing the city and car lights, Charlie’s final narrative words to the audience, him slowly standing up on the back of the car, spreading his arms out in the iconic stance of freedom which we’ve seen times before (Titanic, I’m looking at you), and the anarchic voice of David Bowie warbling befittingly in the background as Charlie finally reaches his catharsis. Here, Chbosky achieves in giving us an unforgettable feeling, as if it is us who is standing on that car, in that moment, soaring through the streets, blood rushing past our ears, grinning madly as it hits us that this snapshot in time is our euphoria, our utopia, and indeed, we are infinite.