Eight Minutes and Twenty-Three Seconds

I have paused my film 8 minutes and 23 seconds in to mull over what I have seen and heard so far. The film is The Perks of Being a Wallflower and my impression thus far is that it is simply captivating. I am in engrossed and in all honesty, I've only paused the film because the stream needs to buffer and I don't want to watch a movie that stops and starts every minute! So let's talk about what has happened in these 8 minutes and 23 seconds that have inspired me to open a new tab on my computer and write.

I am a sucker for a well executed voice over and POBAF does not disappoint. Logan Lerman's clear yet emotive tone is a pleasant introduction to the film and I can only hope that it continues in such a way that does not feel intrusive or annoying. We discover that our leading man, Charlie, is hiding some sort of secret that happened during his last year of middle school. Of course as I am barely 10 minutes into the film I have no idea what this could have been. He mentions that he doesn't want his parents thinking he will get 'bad' again and the first image that popped into my head was of Charlie dressed as Michael Jackson for Halloween! He's an obviously intelligent young man who is an outcast striving to simply get by which is something that many audiences members will have experienced. The voice over is a clever tool that can be so easily slaughtered so it's nice when it is occasionally done right.

I was surprised that when the opening credits were rolling I recognised several names. I was particularly surprised to see Nina Dobrev and Dylan McDermott were in this film, for two very different reasons. Dylan I love and would praise nearly any role he chooses but Nina... Girl, what are you doing here? You are a vampire in a CW television series not a serious actor in a film about self reflection. Spoiler alert! Emma Watson is not in the first 8 minutes and 23 seconds of this film and I am totally fine with that. She is yet to win me over completely even though I do like her body of work. She's a bit of a weird one for me as I don't have any solid reasons for why I don't like her, I just don't. Logan Lerman, with his afore mentioned lovely clear voice, has a certain beautiful quality about him. I can never tell if it is the character or the actor that I find attractive especially when I haven't seen the actor in any other role. But so far, I am 100% on his side and even his one strange eyebrow will not change that. And to round off the cast, the wonderful Ezra Miller. Afterschool and We Need To Talk About Kevin are two of my favourite movies and both feature him as either a leading or supporting actor. I look forward to seeing what type of character this 'Patrick' is and whether or not it's similar to any of Miller's previous roles. I really hope that his popularity grows further because of this movie and I would love to see him in more and more films in the near future. I think there is something to be said about an actor who can play a raging psychopathic killer and be incredibly sexy doing so. Oh and Paul Rudd is a teacher who wants to be Charlie's friend. It was odd but I enjoyed learning where the term 'Box Office' came from so that's a thing.

So far there has only been one thing I don't like. The kids at the high school are truly awful. I know that directors, writers and everyone else on the planet want to highlight the bullying that goes on in schools but isn't this a little extreme? The whole 'bully every freshman' thing is far too over the top and, in my mind, a little ridiculous. I'm not suggesting that bullying doesn't happen and that it's not a huge issue but I have never in my life seen or heard of anything as ludicrous as a whole senior class resorting to picking on the younger classmen. Even at my school, no one liked the first years because they were annoying and had a strange sense of ownership because they had just been the oldest year group in the junior school. We would always moan about them and laugh at their huge backpacks but ultimately if we ever saw that a first year was lost, I know that I personally, would try to help them. And even when they are screaming and running into you it is never acceptable to grab their book and rip it just to be mean or teach them a lesson. Urgh, so stupid! I've never read the book but considering the author is also the director I feel that he is to blame for such a gross misrepresentation. Despite this, I am enjoying Perks of Being a Wallflower and I'm now going to un-pause and resume watching Nina Dobrev eat all of those green beans. Girl has one hell of an appetite.