Interesting Pairing Through Netflix, Driving Lessons and The Perks of Being a Wall Flower

I recently watched two very interesting movies.

Perks of Wallflower from IMDB
Based on the novel written by Stephen Chbosky, this is about 15-year-old Charlie (Logan Lerman), an endearing and naive outsider, coping with first love (Emma Watson), the suicide of his best friend, and his own mental illness while struggling to find a group of people with whom he belongs. The introvert freshman is taken under the wings of two seniors, Sam and Patrick, who welcome him to the real world.

And Driving Lessons from IMDB
A coming of age story about a shy teenage boy trying to escape from the influence of his domineering mother. His world changes when he begins to work for a retired actress.

Both of these descriptions of their movies do not adequately describe the emotional impact the characters have in their plots.
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Both feature a boy about 13 or 14 trying to make sense out of the awkward role of being sensitive and not fitting into the usual strata of "kids" his age.The Perks of Being a Wallflower is about this kid as his  co-opted by a group of kids three years older than him. They gather him up and introduce him to the mainstream of activities of older more agile students even as this group is setting on the outside of mainstream crowd.

The other movie, Driving Lessons is about an awkward 17year old that was raised in the shadow of the ministry of the Church of England He is introduced to pieces of adult independence by an elderly English "Dame" of the stage,who sets him up  to go camping against his parents wishes as she uses him as an assistant during his summer vacation. He sets out to earn some money to help a human mission project of a very strange parishioner who ran over his wife and needed to be forgiven by the church in the form of  his mother.

Both of these movies have a decided independent feel and depict coming of age not from the usual teen royalty prospective, but rather from the prospective of that awkward group of guys that probably will need to wait until they are in college to make their romance connection. This doesn't seem to be a problem for girls of Perks as they reach Junior and Senior levels. Their only issue is how to drop the guys they have been going with as they head for college.

The big issue in Driving Lessons is how to learn some independence from your parents when it is forced upon you. The main character is this movie was genuinely trying to follow his mother's overly restrictive measures but the real world of his summer job and his poetic heart could not be contained. A truly awkward 17 year old was in for an interesting ride when he signed on to help the elderly alcoholic romantic actress. His own poetry found some appreciation in her even if it did not work among his female contemporary.      

There is a bittersweet ending for each story and overall a satisfying journey in each. Watch for stellar rolls for Emma Watson in The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Laura Linney as the stern mother in Driving Lessons.
Hope you enjoy... : ) Pat