Adapting a novel to a film is tricky—I know this because I am one of the suckers who always go to see the movie adaptations of their favorite books. Apart from To Kill A Mockingbird I must say that I am generally disappointed with the results. The two-hour length of most films never seems to be enough time to develop all of the nuances and underlying themes that a novel includes. While some movies often stand on their own as great art, comparing them to the books they are based on seems, at times, pointless. However, this is not the case with the newly released film The Perks of Being A Wallflower.
I read Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower last year while traveling in Belgium, and I was enthralled with the characters, the story, and the mystery of what “getting bad again” meant during most of my time there. The book offered up its own journey and explored the human condition of empathy and how detrimental, but simultaneously beautiful it can be. It was one of those books that makes you regret reaching its end because you are not ready to give up the character whom you have grown so close to.
After seeing the film adaptation of The Perks of Being A Wallflower I had the exact same feeling. As the credits began to roll and the rest of the theatre began to gather their purses and trash I wanted to sit and wait for the next showing to begin, to spend more time with Charlie, Sam, and Patrick in their realistic and confusing world. The movie, which is adapted and directed by original author Stephen Chbosky, was exquisite, and I can honestly say that it may be the best screen adaptation of a book I have seen. While certain scenes are changed, left out, or made less explicit, as a whole the movie grasps, as well as the novel, the pains of being empathetic, the struggle between passivity and fervor, and the discovery it takes for one to feel “infinite.”
I would highly recommend it to those who have or have not read the book.
The Perks of Being A Wallflower is currently playing at the Regal Fox Tower 10 across from Pioneer Square and Regal Bridgeport Village Stadium 18 in Tigard.
For more information please visit http://perks-of-being-a-wallflower.com/
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Check out the preview below:
The Perks of Being A Wallflower HD Preview