A new spin on high school friends-with-benefits, a brilliantly expressive group of teens make this one of the most original movies
that’s certain to gain momentum. Charlie (Logan Lehrman) is the story’s center (wallflower) drawn to the outgoing nerds and artsy
types like Sam (Emma Watson) and her gay BFF Patrick (Ezra Miller) who bring enormous talent to this 1999 best-selling novel adapted by Stephen Chbosky which he also writes/directs for the big screen.
Charlie has a crush on Sam but the film isn’t defined by their romance or lack of it. Instead the film is defined by the romance of
friendship, and that’s a feeling we can all relate to. That moment in high school when we knew were different…when nobody else ‘got it’
and then we found those handful of friends who did. We found our click. Charlie suddenly grows from his wallflower to full bloom and in his transition we find ourselves transcended back to those awkward years defined by the ridiculous hierarchy of popularity, only to realize later in life that those jocks and geeks will have little significance in our real lives. But for Sam and Patrick, they refuse to conform, they’re ahead of their time, they’ve come of age, and Charlie watches it all shyly and often awkwardly from the sidelines – “You
see things you understand” [as a wallflower.]
Unlike most teen films, this goes beyond the table in the lunchroom. Instead this brat pack solidifies their youth through artistic expression
– through a performance of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and rushing through tunnels in their car, hair flying in the breeze, arms overhead. Through being openly gay. Through being openly open….about hell all! And his teacher (Paul Rudd) moves him through English class with a
series of books including, and oddly, Catcher in the Rye, which I bet this film’s eventual DVD and Young adult novel will take its home alongside on the shelf of classics. Three and a half tiaras