The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Brilliant. Emotional. Raw. Authentic, earnest teenage angst not seen since I can't remember when. And definitely excellent taste in (indie) music! Having the author be the screenwriter and director of the show is a double-edged sword. The good thing is Stephen Chbosky definitely understands the material and knows exactly what he wants to translate onto the big screen; the bad thing is that he gets too over indulgent at times and some scenes dragged out longer than necessary while some scenes are extraneous. The movie could have been trimmed down by at least 15 minutes. The three leads were perfect for their roles. Logan Lerman portrayed the emotional frailty and fractured innocence very well. Emma Watson will be a big star one day. She's on the cusp of a breakthrough and if she hones her skills more, stays aways from cheesy flicks, I see a great future for her. Ezra Miller is the quirky strange one but his performance was also spot on: a sensitive soul within the outrageous personality. Other outstanding supporting actors include Mae Whitman (always a delight!) and Paul Rudd (underrated, but delightful and reminds me of my own English teacher). This show will surely be re-watched, re-quoted and re-critiqued by the teens of this generation and be as cult as "Heathers" or "16 Candles" of my time. Depressing/Angsty movie with a positive message: bad things happen to any people, good or bad, and we always think we deserve the love we have. Really makes me want to go out and read the book! Do you feel infinite? Have you felt infinite?