The Perks of Being a Wallflower (film)

Stephen Chbosky at the 2006 San Diego Comic-Con

Chbosky incorporated both fictional ideas and personal experiences into the novel.[7] After five years with these elements in mind,[7] he had the idea of writing the novel during a difficult period in his life.[8] He was experiencing an unpleasant breakup of his own,[8] which led him to ask, "Why do good people let themselves get treated so badly?"[9] The author tried to answer the question with the sentence "we accept the love we think we deserve". This quote references the struggle of finding self love, encompassing one's life and hope for the future, and not just romantic love.[10]

The story began when Chbosky was in school, evolving from another book on which he was working.[7] In that book he wrote the sentence, "I guess that's just one of the perks of being a wallflower", which led him to realize "that somewhere in that ... was the kid I was really trying to find."[7] Chbosky began writing the novel in the summer of 1996 while he was in college,[11] and within ten weeks he completed the story.[7] He rewrote it into two more drafts, concluding the published version in the summer of 1998.[11]

Charlie was loosely based on Chbosky himself. Like the novel itself, Chbosky included much of his own memories from the time he lived in Pittsburgh into the film.[12] The other characters were manifestations of people Chbosky had known throughout his life;[13] Chbosky focused on people's struggles and what they are passionate about, attempting to pin down the very nature of each of the characters.[14] The characters of Sam and Patrick were an "amalgamate and celebration" of several people Chbosky has met; Sam was based on girls who confided in him, and Patrick was "all the kids I knew who were gay and finding their way to their own identity."[12]

Shortly after the novel's release, Chbosky began to write a screenplay for it.[15] Chbosky recalled a meeting with his agent saying, "My agent said we would average a call a week, whether it was from producers optioning it or a writer or director wanting to adapt. Even a German film company, I don't know the name of the company, but they wanted to buy it and turn it into a German film, which I would love to have seen, in an alternate universe kind of way. Yeah, there were many offers, but I couldn't let it go. I don't know how to sell something this personal. And especially what the book meant to the fans—I couldn't let it go to anyone else. I owed the fans a movie that was worthy of their love for the book."[15] When he finally did sit down and started on penning the screenplay, he found it more difficult than the book. The novel took him just four months to write while the script took him a year.[16]

Chbosky would not sell the rights to the film unless the studio also let him adapt and direct the film. John Malkovich's production company—Mr. Mudd Productions— purchased the rights to the film and let Chbosky himself write the script and direct the film. In January 2011, Summit acquired distribution rights.[17] The following month, Summit sought a buyer for the project at the European Film Market held simultaneously with the Berlin International Film Festival.[18]

In May 2010, Logan Lerman and Emma Watson were reportedly in talks for the project[19] and confirmed the following year.[20] In April 2011, Mae Whitman signed on as Mary Elizabeth and Nina Dobrev was cast as Candace. Paul Rudd was cast as Mr. Anderson later that month.[21] On May 9, 2011, Kate Walsh announced that she was cast in the film as Charlie's mother and had begun filming.[22] On May 19, 2011, it was announced that Ezra Miller had joined the film.[23]

The film was shot in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area from May 9 to June 29, 2011.[24] Initial filming began in Pittsburgh's South Hills, including South Park, Upper St. Clair, and Peters Township High School.[25][26]

The Rocky Horror Picture Show scenes were filmed at The Hollywood Theater in Dormont[27] after Chbosky learned that the theater was re-opening; he had seen The Rocky Horror Picture Show there when he was younger.[28]

The film also has scenes within Pittsburgh city limits inside the Fort Pitt Tunnel, Fort Pitt Bridge on Interstate 376 and on Mount Washington.[29]

The film originally received an R rating for "teen drug and alcohol use, and some sexual references". The filmmakers appealed and the MPAA changed it to PG-13 for "mature thematic material, drug and alcohol use, sexual content including references, and a fight—all involving teens".[42]

The Perks of Being a Wallflower received a limited release of four theaters in the United States on September 21, 2012, and grossed $228,359 on its limited opening weekend, averaging $57,089 per theater. The film earned $17,742,948 in North America and $15,641,179 in other countries, for a worldwide total of $33,384,127.[1][43][44]

The performances of (left to right) Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, and Ezra Miller received critical acclaim.

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 86% based on 165 reviews, with an average rating of 7.46/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a heartfelt and sincere adaptation that's bolstered by strong lead performances."[45] On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 67 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[46] On CinemaScore, audience members gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[47]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three and a half stars out of four, writing in his review "All of my previous selves still survive somewhere inside of me, and my previous adolescent would have loved The Perks of Being a Wallflower".[48]

The lead cast also earned positive notice. Ian Buckwalter of The Atlantic said "The primary trio of actors delivers outstanding performances, starting with Watson, who sheds the memory of a decade playing Hermione in the Harry Potter series with an about-face as a flirtatious but insecure free spirit. Miller also plays against his most recent performance, which was as the tightly wound eponymous teenage psychopath in We Need to Talk About Kevin, to deliver a giddy, scene-stealing turn as Patrick. Lerman, best known f[or] the Percy Jackson series, shines as Charlie, a role that demands he be immediately likeable while still holding onto some deep darkness that can't be fully revealed until the end."[49]

John Anderson of Newsday also praised the cast saying "As Sam, the quasi-bad girl trying to reinvent herself before college, she (Emma Watson) brings honesty and a lack of cliche to a character who might have been a standard-issue student. But equally fine are her co-stars: Ezra Miller, who plays the gay character Patrick as something messy and unusual; Paul Rudd, as their English teacher, is refreshingly thoughtful. And Charlie is portrayed by Lerman as quietly observant, yearning and delicate in a way that will click with audiences regardless of age".[50]

Allison M. Lyzenga of My Film Habit praised the film saying "This movie especially recognizes that even while high-school can be a battlefield of insecurity and bullying, you can find allies to help you through the struggle. It also shows that we all have a brighter future ahead if we let ourselves reach for it."[51]

Some critics had a less favorable response to the film, with the main criticism being that the portrayal of teenage issues is idealized and the casting uninspired. The Miami Herald critic Connie Ogle notes that "the suicide of Charlie's best friend, which takes place before the film opens, seems glossed over too quickly" despite the event being Charlie's main character motivation in the film.[52] Jack Wilson of The Age writes, "the script is transparently fake at almost every moment, congratulating the gang on their non-conformity while soft-pedalling any aspect of adolescent behaviour—drug use, sex, profanity—that might upset the American mainstream."[53] Richard Corliss of Time magazine criticized the casting of actors in their twenties to play teenagers, unlike Heathers where the main actors were actual teenagers.[54]

MTV, Us Weekly and Complex named The Perks of Being a Wallflower one of the best films of the year.[55][56][57]