Perks of Being a Wallflower, The (Blu-ray) (2012)

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General		Extras
Category	Coming-Of-Age	Audio Commentary-Director Audio Commentary-Cast Deleted Scenes-With Audio Commentary Featurette-Making Of-Best Summer Ever
Rating
Year Of Production	2012
Running Time	103:00
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Stephen Chbosky
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Logan Lerman Dylan McDermott Kate Walsh Patrick de Ledebur Johnny Simmons Brian Balzerini
Case	Standard Blu-ray
RPI	?	Music	Michael Brook

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 English Dolby Digital 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Recently John had the opportunity to review the DVD version of this excellent coming-of-age film. It struck a chord deeply in him. His review can be found here . Whilst I didn't get quite the same nostalgic buzz from the movie as John, it still made me do two things almost immediately after the credits ended. The first was to pull out my copy of Louder Than Bombs by The Smiths to listen to Asleep and the second was to leave the cabinet opened long enough to grab out Heroes by David Bowie.

     Both songs are crucial to the film. The former expresses the melancholy undercurrent of the movie seen in the struggle of adolescent life against some particularly difficult circumstances. It is the aural equivalent of Hamlet's "to be or not to be" speech. And both are reflective of the group’s outsider status - listening and adoring the music of the past.

     "Heroes", the song not the album, has its own place in pop culture mythology. It is a song, of course, that David Bowie wrote after hearing a story of two tragic lovers on opposite sides of the Berlin wall. Except, it wasn't. Later in the piece Bowie admitted that he and Brian Eno had created the work as one of the instrumental tracks that filled out side two of the album adding the lyrics after seeing producer Tony Visconti kissing backup singer Angelina Maas. "Heroes", the song, has come to characterise the overriding power of love that cannot be downtrodden. Yet it is a song laced with irony, hence the quotation marks in the title. All the characters in The Perks of Being a Wallflower have their grand designs and visions all of which butt up against seemingly insurmountable challenges.

     But enough about the music - back to the film. John has described the plot and detail of the film with great clarity and it is to his review that you should turn for this information. For my part I enjoyed the chance to see three interesting young actors working at their craft. They may be a little old for high school but still they managed to carry off portraying young people at the cusp of adulthood. As a secret Harry Potter tragic it was a joy to see that Emma Watson has more strings in her acting bow than simply telling Ron Weasley what to do. She brings a nice charm and beauty to her role although I'm not sure I exactly bought her bad girl backstory. Ezra Miller had run the serious risk of being typecast with his chilling performance in We Need to Talk about Kevin. He is still quirky here, playing the young gay man, but with that quirkiness comes a genuine warmth and watchability. It wasn't hard to follow the life journey of Logan Lerman who is far away from his defining role in the Percy Jackson films.

     It is hard not to return to the music when the soundtrack features such a great array of 80s stars. Anyone who liked independent British music in the 80s will derive great enjoyment from just listening to the soundtrack. The film has a strong nostalgic pull for those doing their schooling during this period (I was already stuck behind a desk) but there is a lot to like about the film, not just for the Post-Potter curious.

Video

     As with the DVD The Perks of Being a Wallflower is presented on Blu-ray in the correct 1.85:1 aspect ratio.

     The look of the film takes us back to the 90s. It is not a reference quality disc but it does have a pleasing sharpness and clear and consistent flesh tones. The level of detail is good. The colours emulate the era.

     There are subtitles in English for the hearing impaired which give a good account of the on-screen action.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The Perks of Being a Wallflower features a DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track.

     The film doesn't make huge demands of the surrounds but it is still a pleasure to have a clear crisp soundtrack with great separation. The sub-woofer is used only occasionally.

     The dialogue is clear and easy to understand.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

     For fans hoping that the Blu-ray will bring with it a host of extra material there is a disappointment. The extras included are identical to those included on the DVD release.

• Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Stephen Chbosky
• Audio Commentary with Stephen Chbosky, Logan Lerman, Ezra Miller, Johnny Simmons, Emma Watson, Mae Whitman and Erin Wilhelm
• Deleted Scenes and Dailies with Optional Commentary by Writer/Director Stephen Chbosky
• Best Summer Ever Featurette

    The specifications and extras are identical to the Region A release.

     The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a great adaptation of a popular novel. Even if you are not sold on the material or the nostalgia the young performers are engaging.

     The Blu-ray is of good quality with a couple of good commentary tracks including a fun (in a chaotic sense) track by the cast.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall