Review: The Fault in Our Stars

Review: The Fault in Our Stars
*Mild Spoilers Alert
  Do NOT forget to rate this post when you finish.

Official 'The Fault in Our Stars' Poster.

      With a stellar pair of stars and an amazing director, 'The Fault in Our Stars' is one of the best romantic-drama adaptations in recent memory.

"Shaileen Woodley".

"Ansel Elgort".

      'Hazel Grace Lancaster'(Shailene Woodley) is a 16-year old sarcastic and intelligent teenager, who has fought thyroid cancer ever since she turned thirteen. Believing to be her depressed about her state of taking an experimental drug while having an oxygen tank hooked to her all her life, her parents 'Frannie Lancaster'(Laura Dern) and 'Michael Lancaster'(Sam Trammell) force her to attend a support group for young cancer patients. There she meets 'Augustus Waters'(Ansel Elgort), an osteosarcoma (survivor who lost his leg. He is only their in order to support his best friend 'Isaac'(Nat Wolff), who is days away from a surgery that will essentially leave him blind. Instantly 'Hazel' and 'Augustus' form a very strange and flirty connection. Afraid that her ultimate near death will leave her family and 'Augustus' devastated and wanting to minimize the damage her death will cause, she tries to stop the relationship from further growing, but 'Augustus' will try to make her understand that she must not be afraid of life and that she must attempt to live her life to the utmost. The love that they formed will be challenged unfortunately by life, which is not always as fair as one might hope. Other characters include 'Peter Van Houten'(Willem Dafoe), the author that 'Hazel' adores the most and loves his book 'An Imperial Affliction' and 'Lidewij Vliegenthart'(Lotte Verbeek) the assistant of 'Peter Van Houten'.

"Ansel Elgort", "Nat Wolff"
and "Shaileen Woodley".

"Shaileen Woodley"
 and "Laura Dern".

      Much like superhero movies nowadays (but in a much smaller scale), young-teen romantic-drama-book adaptations has become an increasing trend. From "Nicholas Sparks" movies 'The Notebook' and 'Safe Haven' to other movies like 'Moonrise Kingdome' and 'AboutTime', studios constantly try to find materials whether from writers to authors to try and find the next big thing. And in this case 'The Fault in Our Stars' book was definitely the one. Usually most romantic-drama, that are intended for commercial success lack this certain flair that make both accessible for critics as well as audiences paying to watch them. 'TFIOS' movie is definitely a commercial-box office success, while at the same time enough to satisfy critics. And in my opinion the performance of both lead actors are worthy of award consideration. What the movie managed to give us is a simple conventional love story between two teenagers wrapped up in a very beautiful way, while respecting the real unjust world that we already live in. This element mixed with other points that will later be discussed, the director is able to give us a very beautiful and grounded love story that girls will surely shed some tears for and other target groups might still be interested in.

"Ansel Elgort" and
"Shaileen Woodley".

"Shaileen Woodley"
and "Ansel Elgort".

      Newcomer director "Josh Boone" is only known for directing the independent romantic comedy-drama film 'Stuck in Love(2012)'. Seeing this movie is his big chance, "Josh" took full advantage of his experience in this genre and was able to mold in a very beautifully sculpted movie, bringing life and optimism through his clever shots and vibrant visuals. Also a shout out to the editing team, who fashionably moved a two hour movie in a clear manner never making one bored and keeping one interested in wanting to know how the story will end. The clever directing choices that he decided to take certainly paid off in a big way in the end. Writing partners "Scott Neustadter"('500 Days of Summer') and "Michael H. Weber"('The Spectacular Now') adapted the book in a clever manner. The main love-story plot which was surrounded by the idea of death was preserved from the book, whilst making small changes that both felt necessary and brought addition to the theatrical adaptation. Usually such changes might hinder the final product, but in this case they were necessary and never felt out of place. Duo composers "Mike Mogis" and "Nate Walcott" provided us with arguably a moving score that very much paralleled the movies theme of love, nervousness, sadness and death. And same as the directing, editing and writing, the music added value to the movie.

"Ansel Elgort" and
"Shaileen Woodley".

"Ansel Elgort" and
"Shaileen Woodley".

      As previously mentioned, the movie runs at two hours. At first glance, many might look at it as tiring and unnecessary especially when one looks at the movie's genre. However, the movie utilizes the time it has moving the story in the right direction, developing the underlying themes in a manner that is coherent and that fits the story. The opening 20 minutes of the movie are a very good exposition, allowing the audiences to know directly what the status quo is and where each character stands. Also its what most of the footage in the trailers lie, which I think it was a great idea since looking later, it gave us enough to get excited about the movie, whilst not spoiling what was going to go on later in the movie. Scenes like 'Hazel' and 'Gus' meeting, to 'Isaac' breaking the trophies and the entire sequence in the Netherlands are funny and equally full of emotions. But above all the best scene of the entire movie comes towards the end and is the eulogy scene. Girls will cry, boys will get sad and adults will relate to what will be said during this scene. It is by far one of the best scenes I have personally ever watched. The ending was beautifully done, reminiscing on what the movie is all about, being grateful on what we got and not let our fears stand in the way of living our lives. 

"Shaileen Woodley".

"Shaileen Woodley"
and "Nat Wolff".

      Another major point that made the movie a success was the performance of its cast, specifically its lead actors. "Shailene Woodley" has become a big movie stars after the success of 'The Descendents', 'The Spectacular Now' and the sci-fi YA 'Divergent', and in this movie she provide us with her best performance to date. What makes her a great actress is her ability to channel humor, sarcasm, emotions and realism within her performance, and that is exactly what she has done with this character, which needed someone who can channel these points. The struggles that 'Hazel' goes through will resonate in audiences, joining it with "Shailene"'s performance and the character's unique outlook on things made this character become special and adored by fans. After behind-the-scenes roles, "Ansel Elgort" gets the opportunity of a life time and takes full advantage of it. His portrayal of exuberant and energetic 'Augustus' might be at few(really few) moments over the top, but overall his performance is a great one. Moreover, the chemistry that both "Shailene" and "Ansel" bring forward is mesmerizing and attractive. "Nate Wolff" provides a breakthrough and charming performance as 'Gus''s blind friend giving depth to his role. "Laura Dern" and "Sam Tramell" gives strong performances as 'Hazel''s parents, characters which usually lies behind the shadows in these movie genre. "Willem Defoe"'s portrayal of nasty author was compelling, while "Lotte Verbeek" surprised with brief yet well portrayal of his assistant.

      'The Fault in Our Stars' is ultimately a great book adaptation that teenagers will look up to as the romance movie to watch in the upcoming years to come like many that preceded it.

'The Fault in Our Stars'.

-'The Fault in Our Stars' Info:
-Starring: Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Nat Wolf, Laura Dern, Sam Trammell, William Dafoe and Lotte Verbeek.
-Based on: 'The Fault in Our Stars' by John Green.
-Studio(s): 20th Century Fox and Temple Hill Entertainment.
-Directed by: Josh Boone.
-Screenplay by: Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber.
-Music by: Mike Mogis and Nate Walcott.
-Running Time: 126 minutes.
-Budget: $ 12,000,000.
-Box Office: -Domestic(US): $ 124,872,350.
                    -Foreign: $ 179,314,140.
-Ratings: -IMDb: 8.3/10/
              -Rotten Tomatoes: 80%.
              -Metacritic: 69%.

              -PERSONAL RATING: 8.4/10.

-'The Fault in Our Stars' Trailer: