The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Adapting his own novel, writer/director Stephen Chbosky perfectly captures that feeling in adolescence when you finally find and click with the right group of friends after years of feeling lost and alone. While it relies a little too heavily on voice-over narration from the main character—a flaw in many book-to-film adaptations (Perks, incidentally, is perhaps the first movie to be both adapted and directed by the author of the novel on which it was based)—the talented young cast members embody the complex emotions convincingly and powerfully.

The setting (early 1990s?) is ambiguous enough to make the film feel timeless despite the important and effective use of contemporary music--both from the '90s and earlier. I did have to suspend my disbelief during one key sequence, in which it is revealed that characters who are supposed to be avid music listeners have made it all the way through high school without ever hearing David Bowie's “Heroes,” but this improbability doesn't torpedo an otherwise stirring scene. The movie reached into my 41-year-old soul and connected with the 14-year-old inside in a direct and powerful way. I think this is the best coming-of-age film since Say Anything.