Perks of Being a Wallflower (PG-13) 7.5

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012): An introvert freshman is taken under the wings of two seniors who welcome him to the real world. (8.1)

Director: Stephen Chbosky
Writers: Stephen Chbosky (screenplay), Stephen Chbosky (book)
Stars: Logan Lerman, Ezra Miller, Emma Watson, Paul Rudd

Perhaps, a little too much glorification of the partying and clique-ish atmosphere in the high schools, but the story walks through quite a lot of, shall we say, sensitive issues for teenagers. Among them are homosexuality, mental illness, coping with suicides, sexual abuse, etc. The book is probably better than the movie as we are left to understand some of the things on our own with bits and pieces pictures/clips, so it is easy to miss some complexities of the storyline in the movie. While the larger message of the story is that those who are different aren't alone, and it gets better, I can see how some people, specially those who are in that age range, walking away thinking "hell, I'm not doing even 10% of the seemingly 'fun stuff' those kids are doing." The acting is quite good. Emma Watson, as she does in the Harry Potter movies, goes on the bit of over-acting roll, but that's okay, after all she's playing the part of a teen. My Rating: 7.5