Directed by Josh Boone.
2014. Rated PG-13, 126 minutes.
Shailene Woodley
Ansel Elgort
Laura Dern
Willem Dafoe
Nat Wolff
Sam Trammell
Lotte Verbeek
Mike Birbiglia
Hazel (Woodley) has been suffering from cancer for quite some time. Her type, terminal thyroid cancer, makes it difficult to breathe. As she puts it, her "lungs suck at being lungs." We meet her as her mom Frannie (Dern) has enrolled her in a support group she does not want to be in, but reluctantly attends the weekly meetings. At one of these, she meets the happy-go-lucky Augustus (Elgort), Gus for short, who lost one of his legs to cancer. Nicholas sparks fly and off we go on a lovey-dovey journey with these two wonderful kids. And no, Nicholas Sparks didn't actually write this, or the novel it was adapted from. The novel was penned by John Green.
In the lead, Shailene Woodley turns in an excellent performance. She draws us in by fully embodying her character. Her line deliveries are perfect, no matter the situation. She never strikes a false note. Her best moments, though, are non-verbal. Her fluidly changing facial expressions flawlessly convey each emotion. This is particularly effective during her interactions with others. We can easily discern her feelings about every situation in which she finds herself.
Despite such a wonderful performance, and nice turns by Laura Dern as her mother and Willem Dafoe as her favorite author, The Fault in Our Stars runs into some sizable problems. Chief among these is the movie's relentless cuteness. This is most obvious in the person of Gus. He's one of those movie characters who is a walking, talking ball of catharsis for everyone in his presence. He always knows the perfect thing to do and/or say to make everything better. And he always does and/or says these things in the happiest way possible. He is entirely too perfect to be believable. He also insists on calling our heroine by both her first and middle name, Hazel Grace. It's just so...so...so twee.
Of course, those of you that buy in and ride the emotional roller-coaster this movie attempts to set us on will love it. I'm cool with that. Woodley performs well enough that she makes it all hard to resist. If you're among the people who succumb to its charms, you might think me a cold being with a lump of coal where my heart should be. I'm cool with this, too. Basically, it's My Sister's Keeper all over again. Every five minutes the movie kept poking me in the eye trying to get me to cry. It was all a bit much for me to swallow. If you like to work your way through a box of tissue while watching a movie, by all means, knock yourself out.
"Nicholas sparks fly" lmao. I threw this in my Netflix queue awhile back, I never read the novel, but I think I'll give the film a shot.
ReplyDeleteI'd recommend seeing for 2 reasons. First, Woodley is really good. Second, everyone else seems to love it. I might be being too cynical in my viewing.
DeleteI liked this more than you did...and it emotionally tore me to pieces...and I found Ansel Elgort to be the MVP in so many wonderful ways, but I can't fault you for the faults you found, since they were there, for sure.
ReplyDeleteI'll cop to just being an a-hole because I hated him right away and it got worse from there. If it helps my daughter loved it and thought I was a jerk for not loving it.
DeleteI really liked the book from which this was adapted, and based on what you said about the performances I suspect I might like the movie too. I see your point, though. Excellent review! In addition to the terrific writing, it impresses me as fair and balanced.
ReplyDeleteThank you for such a great compliment! Fair and balanced is one of the biggest things I strive for.
DeleteAs a huge fan of the novel, I was primed to love this movie, but I think they went WAY too glossy with it. The whole thing about the book is that it wants to be more "real" in its depiction of cancer kinds than other previous attempts to do so, and while it's true none of the cancer kids in this are the saints they usually are in narratives like this, I just wished they had tried to buck the YA movie conventions a bit more. It would have made the emotional beats land harder, I think. However, Woodley really is amazing (and the ONLY choice to play this part, frankly), and as a three-hanky tearjerker, it definitely works. I just think it could have been so much more.
ReplyDeleteThey definitely took a paint by numbers approach to tear-jerking. I've not cried over a movie since I ws 8 so I'm not the proper audience for it. It just all felt like an hour and a half of people begging me to sob. That said, I'll repeat that Woodley is fantastic. And since I know I'm a heartless bastard I won't begrudge anyone not being able to keep it together through this.
DeleteI liked the book more than the film, though I did like the film overall. I get your problems about the tears and everything. I think the problem with this was the parents who lose the extra detail from the book and are just there for hugs, sad faces and speeches. The book's most powerful scene with the writer lost a lot of its poignancy when they hang out with the assistant afterwards, when in the book she makes it clear she has resigned. For its target audience, it does a solid job though, and glad you're daughter liked it. Always great to hear your thoughts on a film :)
ReplyDeleteInteresting to hear that about the book. You'd never know any of that from the movie. In the end, you're right that it works wonders with its target audience.
DeleteAs someone somewhat familiar with John Green, I applaud his ability to write teen characters so well. I never read this one, but my wife and what seems like every student and teacher in my building did. I wanted to like this movie so much more than I did. I felt like it was much stronger in the earlier scenes, even if it is overly "cute." When the inevitable conclusion came down, I really wanted to feel it much much more. The performances were all strong in my opinion, especially given the handling of the material.
ReplyDeleteYou said something I was feeling, too. I wanted to like this movie so much more than I did. I just couldn't. Something else you said was a phrase stuck in my head as soon our love birds met - inevitable conclusion. That it felt that way lessened any emotional impact it may have had.
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