We Are Infinite: A Movie Review

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower
Starring Logan Lerman, Emma Watson and Ezra Miller
Written and Directed by Stephen Chbosky

Despite being a straight A student, my life in high school was never awesome. No wait, I sort of hated it. Sometimes I get bullied emotionally (thank God I was never beaten physically). Sometimes, I let them copy my homework in Chemistry, Calculus or Physics in exchange of not bullying for at least a month or two... but it actually didn't work. Often times, I was accused of being a teacher's pet because I was just being participative in the class.

Reading and watching The Perks Of Being A Wallflower made me realize that I wasn't alone of experiencing this kind of ordeal so to speak.

The story started when Charlie entered high school. Like Charlie, I felt nervous. I wasn't really good in making new friends. To start off, the plot was very simple yet we all know that the issues presented in both the book and the movie were all serious and complicated. As much as I hate comparing the book and the movie, both were different in a sense that some parts of the books were omitted for the sake of continuity and brevity. Despite that, Stephen Chbosky remains true to the spirit.

The script was beautifully written. When the actors delivered their lines, it felt like it all came from their hearts. It felt like they have already experienced this kind of predicament and they were just up in the screen, reenacting the same thing again. Translating an epistolary book into a movie is really difficult but I think Chbosky pulled it off. For the musical score, Michael Brook also did a great job. He's also the man behind the musical score of Into The Wild (I absolutely loved that movie). There was one particular score that made me cry because the score perfectly fits that particular scene. It was a surreal. Let us not forget the movie's cinematography - it was gorgeous. The scenes where the camera overlooks the skyline of Pittsburgh and during intimate scenes between the characters - absolutely perfect.

Logan Lerman absolutely did an astounding performance! I thought that Charlie LITERALLY jump out from the book and made his way to the big screen. And as for Emma Watson's diction? She sounded American although there were times that she slipped some British tone but it didn't bother me not because she's pretty and all, but she was Sam. And as for Ezra Miller? It was my first time to see him acting on big screen and he did a great job.

Everyone can totally relate to The Perks Of Being A Wallflower. It is very difficult to be true to yourself whilst experiencing peer pressure, emotional surge, alcohol, sex and drugs. We often fail to find where we truly belong. Sometimes, you have to lie and be like someone else in order to please somebody or worse, yourself. Although, I didn't get to experience drugs and sex, but still you get my point. Their story wasn't cheesy at all. It was real, moving and touching.

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower is simply the best story about coming of age. Teenage life is the most crucial and the most fragile phase of one's life. We may have different stories when we were still in high school but there was one thing in common: finding your true self is not easy. It doesn't matter whether you're the jock, the cheerleader, the nerd, the outcast or even the wallflower.

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower is not just about Charlie's story. It is everyone's story. It is OUR story. Needless to say, we all wanted to feel infinite.

Rating: 9.3/10

(All photos were lifted from this site.)