Monday Muse: {Movie Review} The Perks of Being a Wallflower

 

Watch the movie trailer HERE. :)

Happy Monday, everyone! Last month, I finally got to watch The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Being a huge fan of the book, I was so excited to watch it and I’m glad to say that I’m not disappointed with the result. I know that this comes as a very late movie review, but hey, it can serve as a gentle reminder for those who haven’t watched the movie yet, right? ;)

We accept the love we think we deserve.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is an exceptional case – it was originally written, adapted to screenplay, and directed by the same person, the genius Stephen Chbosky. I myself sure would have been interested to watch it even if I had not read the book yet. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is one of my favorite reads last year. This coming-of-age story deals with heavy subjects such as drugs, abortion, LGBT, and alienation. However, the book still remains light and easy to read, and it feels very personal since the story is written in the form of letters. I promise that when you close the book, you will think of Charlie not as a character, but as a dear friend you're going to miss.

In the movie, Charlie is played by the young actor Logan Lerman. Lerman might not bring to life my adorable, sweet Charlie I met and loved in the book, but he perfectly captured the confused and emotionally unstable Charlie. I liked Lerman’s acting, although I must say that I didn’t love it, but his acting shows clear signs that he will improve even better in the future.

Sam, who is played brilliantly by Emma Watson, is a girl whom I can relate better compared to Sam in the book. In the book, we know Sam only from Charlie’s perspective. However, in the movie we are given special privilege to meet Sam and get to know her from third person’s perspective. Sam is a lot of fun, mistakes, and amends in the book, but she is more a girl with determination to improve herself in the movie. I admire her desire to improve herself – and she succeeded in the end. I understand better why Charlie falls for her, and that’s one aspect I note in the movie version.

Now, onto my newest favorite actor. Ezra Miller is truly, undeniably the star of this movie. He effortlessly brings us Charlie’s best gay friend, Patrick, in a flesh. His acting is what makes this movie one hundred times better. I liked Patrick in the book, but I loved him in the movie. His remarks, antics, and jokes in the movie didn’t seem memorized at all. It’s as if Miller himself could be Patrick in another life and another time. 

I’m so glad that the issues like drugs, violence, and sexuality are treated very carefully in the  movie. The scenes are not explicit at all, and we are left to complete the pieces in our mind. Although I was disappointed to find some scenes in the book are deleted in the movie, but the finished result is quite enjoyable. I’d like to think of the movie version not as the book adaptation, but as a complement to make the book a whole. The movie version may lack things that I liked in the book, but at the same time, it also has things that the book didn’t bring out successfully.

I don’t think it’s possible to compare the movie and the book since they are two different things I wholly enjoyed. If you decide to watch this movie, I recommend you to read the book first. That way, you will enjoy the movie even more since some things may be a bit vague in the movie version. My last advice: buy the DVD or rent it somewhere, because trust me, The Perks of Being a Wallflower is not a movie (or a book) that you would like to miss.

Thank you for reading this week’s Monday Muse! Next week, I’m going to talk about negative reviews and how I tackle it… or rather, how should I tackle it? So stay tune. ♥ Have a wonderful day, everyone! :)

PS: You can watch the deleted scenes of The Perks of Being a Wallflower HERE. :)