I wish I had read the book first, but I had only made it about 20 pages in when Ron asked me if I wanted to see a movie and what movie would I like to see? I had heard that this movie was "The Breakfast Club " of this generation and had seen the trailers for it. I even got a recommendation from jb to go see it. It looked like a movie that I would enjoy, so two weekends ago, we went to see it. I wanted to finish reading the book before I wrote about it, though. I just finished the book this afternoon.
The story is told by Charlie, a very sensitive and fragile 15 year old boy who dreads going to high school. It is a very touching story about a boy who doesn't understand himself or his family, but finally feels some sense of belonging and normalcy when he is befriended by the "Wallflowers." The young actors in this film are wonderful. Logan Lerman as Charlie, Emma Watson as Sam and Ezra Miller as Patrick acted their characters so convincingly that it made me grateful that I grew up back in the old days before being a teenager was too complicated. The story is set in 1992 and the movie was produced and directed by the author of the book. I'm sure it made a huge difference to have Stephen Chbosky write the screenplay as well.
This type of movie is not for everyone, but I loved it. It was sweet and sad, but did have a happy-ish ending. I found myself really hoping that Charlie would be okay during his next school year. The book is a quick read (it would have been quicker for me if I hadn't been so distracted), and I enjoyed it almost as much as the movie.
The bottom line - I give the book and the movie 2 thumbs up and 4 stars!
