The Perks of Being Surprised by a Great Movie

Sometimes, going to the movies is like playing a slot machine at a casino.  You hear there's a hot machine and you drop in one coin after another.  Nothing.  And then there are times when you make one single investment and you hit the mother lode.

I've been burned by movie reviews extolling the healing powers of a film.  And then I walk out of the theater half asleep and with an aching back.  And then there are times when I go in with the lowest of expectations and, well, there's that slot machine hitting all the bars again. 

"The Perks of Being a Wallflower" is a jackpot.  Normally I would bypass a movie like this.  From the ads and the plotline, you'd anticipate a dreary teenage comedy.  But, I was reading Entertainment Weekly and they were mentioning some of the cast as sleepers in the Oscar nomination races.

Hmmm.

A smarter cinematic choice I couldn't have made.  I was thoroughly and pleasantly surprised by the power of this movie which is nothing like what I expected.  This is not a bunch of horny high schoolers trying to simultaneously figure out how to get laid and pass English.  Well, okay, there's some of that in "The Perks of Being a Wallflower."  But, if you think you know this movie in the first reel, be aware that the journey to the last reel is in the opposite direction.  Comic moments juxtaposed with dark moments.  Extreme ups.  Deathdefying downs. 

Just like life. 

The kids in this movie are all damaged and that sure is the way our orbits do spin.  As a result, this is the most realistic depiction of teenage angst in years.  Forget John Hughes, Molly Ringwald, and Ferris Bueller.  The characters in "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" provide the most accurate portrayal of high school issues yet.

The writer and director of this film is Stephen Chbosky and, apparently, his original novel was must reading for the young adult set back in the 90s.  Not being a young adult back in the 90s, I never heard of this book.  I hear from those who were young adults back in the 90s that this tome is revered almost as much as "Catcher in the Rye."  Whatever the case, Chbosky translates it all to the screen and you can tell that this is a life he may have lived himself.  It's all real and organic. 

The main character is Charlie, a new freshman at some Pittsburgh high school.  You know he has some issues from the get-go because he keeps remembering moments with a now-dead aunt.  But, as he enters the school with trepidation, his first challenge is to find a lunch table he can sit at.  He winds up with a bunch of seniors who don't play the class game.  They recognize Charlie as a non-conformist primarily because they're a little off the beam themselves.  Patrick is tall and gay, while his stepsister Sam is cute and certainly conflicted as well.  You know that Charlie and Sam will connect.  At the same time, that's the last predictable moment in this movie.

After that seemingly formulaic opening scene, you expect little new from "The Perks of Being a Wallflower."  That's when it becomes like a "Pin The Tail On the Donkey" game.  You're suddenly blindfolded, spun around three times, and pointed in the direction of nowhere.  You'll get that tail on the donkey.   But you'll have to go through mounds of torture to do so.

Just like high school.

Just like life.

At its conclusion, you realize that director Stephen Chbosky has surprised and startled you in so many ways.  To tell you more would be to ruin the movie for you.  You can't know where it's going because you shouldn't know.

Just like high school.

Just like life.

The acting in this film is superlative.  Logan Lerman as Charlie deserves Best Actor consideration for an Oscar, despite the fact that he might be the only one in the category this year not playing a President.  Meanwhile, supporting nods should go to Ezra Miller and Emma Watson as stepsiblings Patrick and Sam.  It's refreshing to see how good an actress Watson can be when she's not reduced to flying around Hogwarts on a broom.  There's even a compelling twist on the character of the typically supportive English teacher who befriends Charlie.  That also could have easily fallen to routine levels.  Here, as played by the usually annoying Paul Rudd, the teacher becomes one more intricate layer in what is already a challenging onion to peel back.

Forget what you thought if you saw the poster or the trailer.  "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" is one to savor.

Dinner last night:  Roast beef sandwich as I am back at the NY apartment for two nights.