The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Adolescence in suburbia isn't typically characterized by big events.  There aren't many epic romances, shocking betrayals, or dark secrets.  It's the smaller moments that usually mark growing up in this setting: being ignored by a popular kid, getting an answer wrong in class, seeing a crush holding hands with someone else.  These may seem like minor slights, but when you're a self-absorbed teenager, they feel momentous.

Unfortunately, it's not easy to portray this on film.  (Though 2011's "Terri" does a pretty good job of it.)  So high school movies tend to amp up the drama.  They may capture the insecurities and angst of coming of age.  But they also make it seem a lot more justified by pairing the outsized emotions with outsized events.

"The Perks of Being a Wallflower" is a case in point.  There's enough melodrama here for both a John Hughes movie and a Zach Braff film.  One character is in a relationship with a closeted captain of the football team.  Another always loses her crushes to a prettier friend.  The two main characters harbor deep, dark secrets which, naturally, they will help one another work though.

It's a shame, because the film is quite well-directed by Stephen Chbosky, author of the novel upon which the film is based.  He nails the details of 1990s suburbia.  He sports an impeccable soundtrack and doesn't just use it as a lazy method of characterization; he comments on teens' relationship with pop culture knowingly.  He pulls off several visually arresting sequences, no small feat for a first-time director.  And he gives his characters quirks and contradictions that make them feel like people you know.

Unfortunately, while the characters here feel true to life; the things that happen to them don't.