The Perks of Being a Wallflower a thoughtful teen tale

(AP) - Football games and awkward dances, late-night gabfests at the local diner and tentative first kisses - they're all there over the course of a school year in The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

This coming-of-age drama, based on the best-selling young adult novel of the same name, may sound like total formula, right down to the rebellious thrill of experimenting with drugs and alcohol and the liberation of experiencing The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

But there's also a darkness that follows its main character, even at his happiest, which keeps the film from turning completely safe and self-satisfied.

Perks features a well-chosen cast, an eclectic music mix (David Bowie, New Order, Air Supply) and some moments of uncomfortable honesty as well as dreamlike wonder.