Emma Watson in first starring role since Harry Potter in The Perks Of Being A Wallflower

PUBLISHED: 18:11 EST, 27 September 2012 | UPDATED: 19:07 EST, 27 September 2012

This is, quite simply, one of the best coming-of-age films ever made. No film-maker has captured with more sensitivity the hell and heaven of being a teenager. Its sweet but not sickly, cute but not sentimental.

The movie contains an Oscar-quality performance by Emma Watson and an astute one by Logan Lerman as the films 15-year-old hero, Charlie. I hope they are remembered when the awards season comes around.

Writer-director Stephen Chbosky has adapted his own young adult novel from 1999 with remarkable skill. For many teenagers, Im sure it will be a landmark movie in their emotional development. But it will also strike chords of memory with many who are way older than the target demographic.

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The Perks of Being a Wallflower, starring Emma Watson as Sam and Logan Lerman as Charlie, is one of the best coming-of-age films ever made

Teenage tribulations: The Perks of Being a Wallflower, starring Emma Watson as Sam and Logan Lerman as Charlie, is one of the best coming-of-age films ever made

The story is set in the early Nineties, when The Smiths were cool, David Bowies Heroes was exotic, and the ultimate thrill for a teenager was to dress up and mime along to The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Charlie (Lerman), a 15-year-old with an initially unexplained history of psychiatric illness, goes to a new school, where he conspicuously fails to fit in. Hes a wallflower, on the sidelines, observing but never participating.

The first friend he makes is depressingly his English teacher, played with marvellous sensitivity by Paul Rudd, taking a welcome rest from gross-out comedies and reminding us what an intelligent actor he can be.

Lerman plays a 15-year-old at a new school who conspicuously fails to fit in until he is introduced to Watson

Set in the Nineties: Lerman plays a 15-year-old at a new school who conspicuously fails to fit in until he is introduced to Watson who he falls hopelessly in love with

But then shy, unassuming Charlie is adopted as a friend by the schools only out gay, Patrick (beautifully played with ebullience and depth by Ezra Miller), who recognises a fellow outcast. Patrick introduces Charlie to his pretty stepsister, Sam (Emma Watson).

Charlie falls hopelessly in love with Sam, but shes at least two years older than him, and going out with a young man whos at college.

The most heavy lifting acting-wise is done by Watson whose experience as a child star has done her the world of good

A revelation: The most heavy lifting acting-wise is done by Watson whose experience as a child star has done her the world of good

So Charlie settles for having an unreciprocated crush until ... well, I wont spoil the story. Suffice it to say that the film delivers on why Charlie has psychiatric problems.

But the aspect that makes the film memorable is the relationship that develops between Charlie and Sam one of the most touching I have seen on screen.

Lerman unrecognisable from the boy who delivered lacklustre leading performances in The Three Musketeers 3D and Percy Jackson And The Lightning Thief plays his part well, and makes something sweet out of what could have been an infuriatingly passive character.

But most of the heavy lifting, acting-wise, is done by Emma Watson, whose experience as a child star has done her the world of good. Although the Harry Potter films! suggest ed she had the makings of a fine actress, she could be uneven from scene to scene and was visibly learning her craft; this is a major leap forward in terms of quality and consistency.

Here shes a revelation, with the transparency and power of a young Kate Winslet. She has learned not to do too much, but just be. And she has the gamine beauty of the young Audrey Hepburn. If she were not so well-known already, I would be hailing this as a star-making performance.

The film isnt flawless. Its light on story, and hints at some things it doesnt follow through, notably Sams bulimia. One of the bravest elements in the novel, concerning an abortion, has been excluded presumably to placate Middle America. However, its no exaggeration to say that this is The Catcher In The Rye for a later generation. There are many sharp lines, most of them given to Patrick as he challenges his friends to dislike him.

And theres a clever little section that shows how easy it is to drift into the wrong relationship merely because it would seem churlish to refuse. The movie covers cliched topics such as homophobia, drugs, bereavement and abuse, yet makes them all feel freshly observed. Its effortless humanity reminded me a lot of Cameron Crowes earliest movies, especially Singles, Jerry Maguire and Almost Famous.

Since Potter: It is Watson's first starring role since the Harry Potter series in which she played Hermione Granger alongside Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley, left, and Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, right

Since Potter: It is Watson's first starring role since the Harry Potter series in which she played Hermione Granger alongside Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley, left, and Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, right

The emotional honesty is very rare in any form of cinema, let alone the traditionally dumbed-down genre of high school movies. Th! e film v isits dark areas of life, yet theres a joy in it which is uplifting. It captures the moment in our lives when anything and everything seemed possible.

I hope it will receive the appreciation it merits. It deserves to be regarded as a modern classic.

CHRIS TOOKEY

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower is released on Wednesday, October 3.

Now watch the official trailer for The Perks Of Being A Wallflower