“Perks of Being a Wallflower,” is happy and sad at the same time. You will cry but feel a sense of relief and hope. “Perks of Being a Wallflower” is about a boy, Charlie (Logan Lerman, “The Three Musketeers”), who goes through tough patches in his life and he has to learn how to live again. He witnesses things that are equally as tough and has to learn to accept them. That is what this story is all about: growing up, moving on, accepting and living in the moment.

Charlie lost everyone who meant anything in his life before his freshman year of high school so once he had his friends he did everything for them. He lost his best friend to suicide and lost his Aunt Helen in a car accident that he blames himself for. There is more in Charlie’s past that he discovers, his brain blocked out memories, which are slowly starting to come back to him. One night while he is with Sam (Emma Watson, “My Week With Marilyn”) his past comes back to him and his friends and family come together to support him.

This film is full of tragedy but still manages to leave you with a warm feeling. All of the characters have been through some sort of horrible event or they have witnessed events that make your stomach turn. However they have all moved past it and have become who they are and do not care what everyone else thinks

Critics have described it as a coming of age film and the “Breakfast Club” of our generation. The acting is incredible and the viewers can relate to the characters and they become your friends just as much as they became Charlie’s. Sam, is a senior who first learns that Charlie lost his best friend to suicide, Charlie likes her immediately and does some stupid embarrassing and cute things to get her attention. She was taken advantage of as a child and because of that she became promiscuous and received a bad reputation. Watson is incredible and does not make you think of Hermione Granger at all. Patrick, played by Ezra Miller (“We Need to Talk About Kevin”), is Sam’s stepbrother and is secretly dating the quarterback, who used to be popular until Sam showed him good music. He becomes the first person to befriend Charlie. Lerman, played a perfect Charlie, a boy who has been through and has seen a lot, he is incredibly smart and impresses his English teacher by doing extra assignments. He did the part justice his performance was exactly how it was described in the book.

Paul Rudd (“Wanderlust”) plays Mr. Anderson, Charlie’s English teacher. He is a writer and believes that one day Charlie could achieve great things and he continues to encourage him as he goes through his first year of high school.

The film did the book justice, especially with Stephen Chbosky who wrote the book, directing the film. He wrote for the TV series “Jericho,” and the screenplay for “Rent.” The movie was everything I pictured when I read the book, and this has a lot to do with the fact that he wrote the book so he was able to put his vision on the screen it was not just an interpretation.

Even if the viewer has not read the book they can still understand exactly what is going on and will not be able to help but feel the pain, joy, hope and triumph that the characters feel.