The Fault in Our Stars: Movie Review
Based on the bestselling book by John Green of the same name, “The Fault in Our Stars” is sure to please die-hard fans of the source material and general moviegoers alike. Thanks to the screenplay by Scott Neustadter (The Spectacular Now) and the direction by Josh Boone (Stuck in Love), what is delivered winds up being a much more natural story about young love between two teenagers dealing with cancer, than I expected. It is nice to be allowed to feel something for the characters without being manipulated by a score.
At age 16, Hazel (Shailene Woodley) has been fighting cancer for a good chunk of her life. Forced to spend every moment attached to an oxygen tank, simple feats like climbing a few feet of stairs take a lot out of her. Aside from her parents (Laura Dern and Sam Trammell), Hazel doesn’t spend much time around others. Mostly she sits at home and reads. The only time Hazel gets out of the house, is to attend a cancer support group, and even then, she does it to make her parents happy. As Hazel would say, “The only thing harder than dying of cancer is being the parent of someone who is dying of cancer”.
While attending the support group, Hazel meets Gus (Ansel Elgort), a young man who seemingly has beaten the disease, but not before having one of his legs removed. The two share a disdain for the conventional way of thought and slowly form a bond that becomes something truly beautiful. Hazel clearly likes Gus, but is afraid of getting too close because she knows that her time will run out sooner rather than later. Gus however does not make it easy for Hazel to let him go.
When Hazel tells Gus that she used her cancer wish (a wish that dying kids get granted), to go to Disney World when she was younger, Gus surprises her by using his cancer wish to take her to Amsterdam where her favorite author, the reclusive Peter Van Houten (Willem Dafoe) lives. Hazel’s one wish is to find out what happens to the characters in her favorite book “An Imperial Affliction” after the book ends.
“The Fault in Our Stars” is smart, sweet, touching, and features a great cast. The chemistry between Woodley and Elgort is terrific and you can totally forget that they played brother and sister earlier this year in the blockbuster “Devergent”. Dern is also great here as Hazel’s struggling mother, who tries so hard to not show her daughter how scared she really is. Another stand-out performance comes from Nat Wolff who plays Gus’s best friend Isaac. Another teenager who had to have both of his eyes removed due to cancer. Wolff doesn’t get a lot of screen time but when he does, he brings the right amount of levity to the story.
“The Fault in Our Stars” isn’t perfect. For me, the film did drag in spots, though I still think it’s target audience will love it. If the orchestra of crying teenage girls at the screening is any indication, then make sure you pack plenty of tissues before you make your way into the movie.
By: Marc Ferman