Reviewing Movies

Stephen Chbowsky is accorded the rare opportunity to direct the film adaptation of his own book. So the question becomes how good is Chbowsky the director at interpreting Chbowsky the writer. Can he capture on screen that nascent sexual awakening, that youthful struggle for independence and rebellion that is puberty. Does the story come to life on screen? He got to choose his own cast and mold their performance, does he succeed? 

The consensus opinion is that yes he does. A movie is a far different medium from a book and details from the book appear in a different order as in one of the thoughts that ends the book being used to begin the movie. The majority of the actors are in their twenties but they appear and act like teens though I’d have trouble differentiating between the upper and lower class-men.

The movie provides details not given in the book including a sense of locale, Philadelphia where it was shot. It also supplies Charlie’s last name and changes that of his teacher who significantly is not addressed familiarly by his first name. And, of necessity a lot of detail is dropped.

Although the story ends on a positive note this is not a feel-good movie. We are left with the open-ended question as to how Charlie’s Aunt may have molested her young nephew and what part that plays in his mental turmoil.