Easing the agony of growing pains

THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER (12A) Dir: Stephen Chbosky With: Emma Watson, Logan Lerman Runtime: 102 minutes STEPHEN Chbosky’s teen drama answers the question of what Emma Watson would do next after Harry Potter.

Besides showing she can indeed act, it’s a likeable if predictable coming of age tale. Yes, it’s another high school story of friends united against the world, but it has some surprisingly moving moments for all that.

Logan Lerman plays Charlie, a troubled youngster who finds pals in Watson’s fragile Sam and Ezra Miller’s Patrick.

Miller, playing a gay teenager, takes the acting honours, though Lerman runs him a close second. Will make anyone over 20 feel positively Victorian, but catnip for teens and nostalgics. EVERYTHING OR NOTHING: THE UNTOLD STORY OF 007 (12A) Dir: Stevan Riley Runtime: 97 minutes THE longest running franchise in cinema history turns 50 this year. Everyone thinks they know the story, but Steven Riley’s fascinating documentary shows we hardly know you at all, Mr Bond.

With interviewees ranging from Roger Moore (very amusing), pictured, to Bill Clinton (yes, really), the history of 007 is laid bare in the tales of three men – his literary creator, Ian Fleming, and the producers who put him on the cinema screen, Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman.

Sean Connery is notable by his absence from the list of talking heads, but the film manages just dandy without his contemporary contribution. A must see for fans.

Odeons: Glasgow Quay; Dunfermline; Lothian Road, Edinburgh.

LIBERAL ARTS (12A) Dir: Josh Radnor With: Elisabeth Olsen, Josh Radnor Runtime: 97 minutes A SUN-DAPPLED trip down university memory lane lies at the heart of Josh Radnor’s charming comedy drama. Radnor plays Jesse, who goes to the retirement dinner of his old professor (Richard Jenkins), where he meets Zibby (Elisabeth Olson).

Jesse is 36 and struggling to grow up, Zibby is 19 and keen to be a mature, educated, woman of the world. Cue a clash of cultures and much misunderstanding in trendy campus diners.

Radnor’s picture goes nowhere new or startling, but it’s smart, engaging, easy-osey to watch, and has grade A performances from Jenkins and Allison “CJ in the West Wing” Janney to recommend it if the young love story is not your bag of books.