Review: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

There are couple interesting things about this movie that I would have liked to know before watching it.  First, it's supposed to take place in the 1991-1992 school year and has a lot of 90's references.  Second, it originally received an R rating, but the filmmakers appealed the ruling and were able to convince the MPAA to give it a lower rating without editing it at all.

SYNOPSIS
An extremely shy freshman boy is taken under the wings of two seniors who welcome him to the real world. Only there are reasons for his shyness.

THE GOOD
The cinematography is very well crafted.  That was my first clue that this was NOT just another high school movie.

The acting, particularly by Logan Lerman, is brilliant.  I had no idea that Logan could be such a subtle actor. He will be one to watch in the future.

The reveals are done very well.  Very subtle and very effective.

THE BAD
It was really hard to watch Emma Watson try to do an American accent.  It felt forced to me, although her actual performance was great.

The high school extras that had one liners felt like they were pulled from a Disney movie and were a little distracting.  This might have been intentional, nevertheless I was distracted by it.

CONCLUSION
This movie has some very adult themes and should only be viewed by mature audiences (hence the original R rating).  I suppose there might be a high school student or two who would benefit from watching it, but if I had teenagers I wouldn't let them.  It was very well done and very heavy.  4/5 stars.