Surprisingly dreary and slow, saved only by a very good cast

Rating: 6/10 (4 September 2014)

Really my header says it all. I expected this to be a lovely, heart wrenching drama/romance filled with teen angst and a ridiculously syrupy sweet story and honestly? It hardly was any of that. The story seemed to drag excruciatingly so and it jumps back and forth in a way that never really works. I actually thought 3/4 of the way through the movie that they were doing something clever, playing a trick on you where the flash backs were actually flash forwards and I was getting excited that something unique and clever would come out of this...and then...nothing. Dreary. Almost boring. How unfortunate! I haven't yet seen The Fault In My Stars but I'm hoping it is far better than this. I am glad to say that the cast for the most part saves this from being a complete awful mess. The cast is actually very good and I would even say that much of the dialogue and script is pretty good too. Its the plot and the pacing where the film truly stumbles. The chemistry with our lead "Romeo and Juliette" if you will is okay at best and with a romance full of passion and angst you want incredible chemistry. Any of the romantic classics the chemistry is phenomenal.
I adore Chloe Grace Moretz. I think she is one of the best young talents in Hollywood period. Since the moment I saw her in Let Me In I knew she was a talent to be reckoned with. Her charisma on screen shines through here and her role is very good (though a little predictable) but she does well in it. This is definitely a starring vehicle for her and the slow pace doesn't take away from her performance which is very good. Jamie Blackley is her Romeo. He's decent. He plays the role well. The role is also painstakingly predictable. He's a young rocker with a hint of goth to him and he's created with the sole purpose to make teen girls swoon and I suppose he does that well. The chemistry between them is decent which helps. Mireille Enos and Joshua Leonard are fantastic as the free spirited parents of Moretz's Mia. Enos and Leonard have a lot of great lines in the film, very memorable life moments and they are fun together and as individual characters. Stacy Keach might give the best performance in the whole film. He is one to watch because he is quite honestly stunning. His scene beside Mia and his desperate speech to her is heart wrenching. Liana Liberato as Moretz's best friend is okay but very underused and just sort of there.
So the cast ranges from good to great...so why does the movie fail? Simple. It is painfully predictable, horribly mis-paced, and very scattered in its story telling. I think this lays solely on the shoulders of our director and perhaps writers too. RJ Cutler has absolutely no experience in this genre and it has such a direct demographic that it is aimed at. Cutler is a pro at documentaries and at some Television but how would he get this job? Even screenwriter Shauna Cross who has done some good work is not right for this film. I often wonder what studios are thinking when they give scripts like this to people who don't have the right area of expertise. Its an average film aimed at young teen girls with too much sex to really appeal to that age group and not enough direction to make it worthwhile. Skip this one and wait for another romance with more oomph behind it. 6/10 (most of this rating if not all is for the cast.)