The Perks of Being a Wallflower

There are times when you sit down to watch a movie or read a book and, in that moment, everything aligns so you are consumed by the impact of said media. That was my experience with watching Perks.

It was a cold night, D and I bundled up and headed to the cheap theater to watch this movie. Our town, sadly, lacks playing a lot of the non major movies so this movie completely bypassed the bigger theatre and went straight to the cheap theatre. In a way, though, it was perfect.

I sat down prepared with my twizzlers, my comfy boots sticking to the floor from a busy Saturday of movie goers, and D next to me. Now Perks is a timeless book, a tale of adolescence, of fitting in, the darker situations that hide in the background waiting for opportunities to rear its ugly head. Many have read and praised this book. I, on the other hand didn't read it until this fall. Yep I was 24 when I finally read this book and was unsure how I had missed it for so long. I read the book quickly and enjoyed it, but I felt maybe I had missed the time frame for it to really impact me. If I read it at the age of 16 maybe it would have been more influential. 

Watching the movie, though, brought this book to life. It was an overall experience of being in a smaller cozy theater that was not handicapped by technology, with curtains hanging on the sides, with the tops of heads boarding the bottom of the screen and the full sound of laughter which filled the room during Patrick's witty banter. Perks was written in the 90s and I was pleased to see that they set the movie during this time. To watch it on the big screen in this older theater as Charlie turns in his reports on handwritten paper made me feel nostalgic for a time when I was only a child.

This movie only added to the book, made it better. The cast was great and followed the book nicely. Always a plus for a book lover weary of movie adaptations. I enjoyed Paul Rudd's character as Charlie's teacher and mentor and thought it was nice to see him play a role that was a bit more serious than his sarcastic comedy based roles. I think that Patrick was my favorite character to be brought to the big screen. He brought this joy to the story, even though he dealt with just as many issues. 

The music: I knew from the opening credits I would be in for a treat. They highlight The Smiths, as done in the book, and I got feelings of glee when Sam mentions Nick Drake. So much that have I have included my favorite Nick Drake song below! 

Overall it was a great night at the movies, I highly recommend this movie.