This film is a must-see full of brilliant acting, hilarious wit, and great music. Stephen Chbosky shed some light on the issue of book-to-film adaption. He explained that his triple role as author, screenplay writer, and director gave him an edge because he knew the material so well that making decisions about casting, location hunting, costume and set design were easier. When asked if the cast felt the pressure to be true to the book for the fans, he simply said that they could always turn to him. He explained that he is the one who received letters from fans for a decade, and has also met many of them, saying “I think the fans informed a lot of the movie for me because you learn in speaking to people the parts of the book and the parts of the story that meant the most, and over time as I was adapting the screenplay, it helped inform my process to finding the center of the story. So this movie is really for the fans.”

The movie follows the freshman year of Charlie, a fifteen-year-old living in a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He begins the year with no friends his age, problems at home and reoccurring depression. Soon he finds himself becoming close friends with two seniors, the hilarious and flamboyant Patrick, and his beautiful stepsister Sam. Charlie finds himself thrust into a world full of their interesting and exciting friends, filled with friendship and love. The casting of the characters is practically flawless. Logan Lerman takes on the starring role of Charlie, and portrays his unique combination of charm and awkwardness extremely effectively. Ezra Miller has a somewhat break-out performance as Patrick by bringing to life his colorful character and humor, and Emma Watson plays the lively and enviously stunning Sam.