Review: The Fault in Our Stars
Director: Josh Boone
Adapted from: The Fault in Our Stars
Story by: John Green
Genres: Romance Film, Drama, Comedy-drama
I love a good weepy film once in a while and this one was quite well done. I really enjoyed this film, even though it made me cry.
The Fault In Our Stars film is based on the novel by Josh Green of the same name and some have called it a terminal illness melodrama. I have not read the book but did see the trailers at several other films in the past couple of weeks. All I knew of the storyline was that it was to do with a teenage girl with cancer who meets and falls in love with a cancer survivor at a support group.
A thin storyline where the hero tries to make his girl’s wish come true of meeting the author of the book she keeps reading. He arranges a trip to Amsterdam for her and her mum which sets the scene for some scenic travel shots along the canals. As you get into the film, you find out that both the leads have cancer, although Gus’ early introduction in the film shows him saying that he had cancer but hints at it being gone when they amputated his leg. Spoiler alert: the emergence of more cancer in his hip bones and organs is where there films starts to take a darker tone.
The 2 teenage leads were terrific in this film. Shailene Woodley who plays Hazel reminds me a little of Jennifer Lawrence who has the same girl next door mannerisms and charm. Ansel Elgort with his cute smile and plump lips plays his role with a light touch when he could have easily over acted in a number of scenes. This might be the result of Josh Boone’s direction. He does play the ever optimistic cancer survivor with aplomb.
A film that deals with cancer is brave choice to make as not many people want to acknowledge it or even talk about it. In short, I enjoyed it for the love story and the reminder to live life and not be afraid to love, even if you are dying. (Yes it’s a bit smaltzy, but we need a dose of this occasionally). Bring tissues!
Watch the trailer here.