My general philosophy when it comes to books-turned-movies is to consider the two separately—there is no way a movie will be better than a book, but a movie can still be good if it is thought of as a different entity. For instance, Harry Potter, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and The Devil Wears Prada, to name a few. Well, my philosophy has been shattered. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a book-turned-movie that is absolutely amazing.
If you haven’t had the chance to sit down and read the short novel by Stephen Chbosky, you should probably do so. The book is so short you could probably finish it in an afternoon; this is a perfect book to read over Thanksgiving break, so before going to see the movie, take a few hours to read it.
The movie is written by the author, which is probably why the adaptation was so amazing, and it stars Logan Lerman, Emma Watson and Ezra Miller.
Lerman plays the main character, Charlie, who is an introverted, friendless freshman. Charlie befriends Sam (Watson) and Patrick (Miller), a stepbrother and stepsister duo that bring him into a whole new world. The movie and book follow Charlie’s transformation as he learns to let go of the things he can’t control.
The movie touches on the topics of suicide, depression, homophobia, bullying, sexual assault, love, relationships, high school, drama and so much more. Honestly I wanted to cry the entire movie out of pure love for the characters. The acting is amazing, the storyline is believable and relatable and the score is fantastic. It was everything I was expecting from the novel, and more.
All in all, without telling you everything that happens, I want to say one thing: Go see this movie. It is the best movie I have seen in a while and definitely worth the $10 I spent to go see it!