The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

                  While I am the first to admit that I didn't know any high school students as self-aware and self-assured as the teenage "misfit toys" in The Perks of Being a Wallflower, I still hold that Perks is an emotionally poignant tale of the difficult lives of people in touch with their delicate and complicated selves. These people are so aware of themselves, so aware of life, that it is difficult to live happily in the fold.  Instead, they are relegated to the edges.  On those edges, they will live their lives "infinitely."
            Logan Lerman (Jack and Bobby, Percy Jackson) plays the broken but not ruined Charlie with such heartbreaking fragility.  I constantly fought the urge to weep for him and for his group of lovable and breakable friends.  While much praise as been heaped on Emma Watson and Ezra Miller for their memorable and often vulnerable roles as Charlie's ringleaders, but it is Lerman who really holds the power of the film.
          As a side note, I loved that Joan Cusack appeared as a voice of reason doctor near the end of the film.  She has been the source of wisdom in more movies than I can think of (Raising Helen, My Sister's Keeper, Runaway Bride....)  I am going to start using her name as a verb when someone offers wisdom.  "You've been Joan Cusackced, You're welcome."