"Just smile and be yourself," advises Charlie's naïve dad. "That's how you make friends in the real world." Ah, but high school in Pittsburgh in the early '90s might not be the best introduction to the future "real world" for an incoming freshman, especially when smiling can get you a punch to the jaw — if anyone noticed you, that is. When Charlie (Percy Jackson's Logan Lerman) finally does make friends, he's welcomed into the "Island of Misfit Toys" by senior crush Sam (Harry Potter's Emma Watson) and her stepbrother Patrick (We Need To Talk About Kevin's talented Ezra Miller), who's known around campus as "Nothing," which is more than something to a nobody like Charlie. Adapted by director Stephen Chbosky from his own novel, this sweet coming-of-age story is populated by actors who are slightly older than the characters they're playing, with period detail that's a bit lacking, but that shouldn't distract you from a universal tale of growing up as an outsider.
