The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Charlie (Logan Lerman) is your stereotypical nerd. He likes to read classic literary novels and doesn't care much for sports. As he begins freshman year of high school, he's worried the other kids won't take kindly to his predilections. Turns out, he was right. Charlie comes off as such an introvert that no one even wants to sit next to him in the cafeteria. Only his equally nerdy English teacher (Paul Rudd) shows him any compassion. Oh, how it sucks to be young and misunderstood. That's the premise of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, writer-director Stephen Chbosky's adaptation of his own epistolary novel that MTV Books published in 1999. The first half of the film, which opens areawide on Friday, presents an engaging coming-of-age story, but the second half embraces far too much melodrama.