Revisited - The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)

I first decided to watch this film because it had Emma Watson, who was from Harry Potter which I love dearly, and Logan Lerman, who was from Percy jackson which was another series that I adored. The film was fantastic for the emotions you feel through out. It's almost as if as your experiencing the same things as the main character as you go through the film. Hell, most of the things he goes through in some ways are the same things everybody goes through in life. It's a coming of age movie done in the best ways in my opinion.

The movie was based on the book which I read, but to the surprise of myself, I liked the movie better than the book. Mostly because the movie shows the different perspectives from other characters point of views. Not only that, but the author of the book so happened to actually direct the film. I feel this movie nowadays is kind of pushed back into the pile of coming of age stories which is poetic to it's theme of being a wallflower. Where no matter how far back you are or lost in the shuffle, you can grow into something beautiful and be proud of who you are as a person.

Set in 1992, a young high school student, Charlie, who has been suffering from clinical depression setbacks since childhood, has recently been discharged from a mental health care institution. Charlie is uneasy about beginning his freshman year of high school; he is shy and finds difficulty in making friends, but he connects with his English teacher, Mr. Anderson.

Charlie meets two seniors, Sam and her stepbrother, Patrick, at a football game and they invite him to a party. Charlie unknowingly eats a weed brownie, gets high and discloses to Sam that the year before, his best friend committed suicide. He also walks in on Patrick and Brad, the high school quarterback, kissing. Patrick tells Charlie that Brad doesn't want anyone to know he's gay, so Charlie agrees to keep it a secret. Sam realizes that Charlie has no other friends, so she and Patrick make a special effort to bring Charlie into their group.

On their way home the three hear an unknown song on the radio, Sam instructs Patrick to drive through a tunnel, so she can stand up in the back of the pickup while the music blasts.

Sam needs to improve her SAT scores to have a better chance of being accepted to Pennsylvania State University, so Charlie offers to tutor her which improves her SAT score. At Christmas, Sam gives Charlie a vintage typewriter to thank him for his help. The two discuss relationships, and Charlie reveals he has never been kissed. Sam, though already involved with someone else, tells Charlie she wants his first kiss to be from someone who loves him, and kisses him. At a regular Rocky Horror Picture Show performance, Charlie is asked to fill in for Sam's boyfriend Craig, who is not there. Their friend Mary Elizabeth is impressed and asks Charlie to the Sadie Hawkins dance.

The two enter into an unsatisfactory relationship. Finally, at a party, when Charlie is dared to kiss the prettiest girl in the room, he chooses Sam, upsetting both her and Mary Elizabeth. Patrick recommends Charlie stay away from the group for a while, and the isolation causes him to sink back into depression. He experiences flashbacks of his Aunt Helen who died in a car accident when he was seven years old. Brad shows up to school with bruises on his face after having been caught by his father having sex with Patrick. Brad claims that he was jumped and beaten up, and distances himself from Patrick, calling him a "faggot". After Patrick punches him, Brad's friends begin beating Patrick, but Charlie forcefully intervenes, then blacks out. When he recovers he finds that he has bruised knuckles and Brad's friends are on the floor, incapacitated. Sam and Patrick express their gratitude to Charlie, and the three become friends again.

Patrick tries to cope with what happened with Brad, and at one point kisses Charlie, but immediately apologizes afterwards. Charlie keeps getting worse after the blackout. Sam is accepted into Penn State, and breaks up with Craig on prom night after learning he has been cheating on her. The night before she departs, she brings Charlie to her room. They confide in each other and kiss, but when Sam touches Charlie's thigh, he experiences a momentary flashback of his Aunt Helen, which he passes off as nothing, and they continue to kiss. After she leaves for college, though, his emotional state deteriorates and his flashbacks worsen.

He calls his sister blaming himself for Helen's death, and admits he may have wanted it to happen. His sister realizes he is in trouble and calls the police. Charlie passes out as they burst through the door and comes to in a hospital, where psychiatrist Dr. Burton manages to bring out Charlie's repressed memories which reveals that his aunt sexually abused him. The night Charlie is released from the hospital he is visited by Sam and Patrick. Sam explains what college life is like, and that she has found "The Tunnel Song" - "Heroes" by David Bowie. The three revisit the tunnel, where Charlie kisses Sam again, and he stands up in the back of the truck. Charlie acknowledges that he feels alive and in that moment - "We are infinite".

This film made me film a ton of different emotions throughout. You feel like you go through the rollercoaster of ups and downs like Charlie. You feel happy, lost, sad, conflicted, angry, and everything in-between. The film entrances you in it's stories and makes you fall in love with each of it's characters whether it be from their personality or what they do. Yes, its another coming of age movie, but it's one that you should pay attention to. So sit down and watch the film that will make you sad and happy at the same time. This has been Revisited, thanks for reading. Ricardo signing off.