Fault in Our Stars Review

Rating: 8/10 (7 June 2014)

The Fault in Our Stars is a story about young life, love, and living while you can. Based on the 2012 novel written by John Greene, this film tells the story of Hazel Grace and Gus, two teenagers living with different kinds of cancer. Hazel, the more pessimistic of the two, knows she has limited time left and chooses to let the clock tick without making something happen. The story begins with Hazel meeting the charismatic Gus at a stereotypical support group. Gus immediately chases after her affections and what follows is a beautiful story of what life is like for the not-so-typical American teenager falling into the arms of young love.
Leading this small but powerful cast is the phenomenal Shailene Woodley, in the role of Hazel Grace. Woodley practically carries the film on her shoulders being the entire focus of the film, and she does an incredible job of it. The emotional ups and downs her character endures over the course of the story were hard ones to keep up with, and hard ones for a 16 year-old boy to relate to, but I was immediately taken by the power of her character and the realities she faced, and the realities actress Shailene Woodley portrayed so well. In my opinion, Woodley's performance is by far the best seen in a 2014 film so far, and will be hard to top. Starring opposite Woodley is Ansel Elgort, playing the bold and practical Gus. Elgort's performance honestly put me off a bit. The character he developed was great, however it did not match the screenplay he was given beforehand, which made the character of Gus difficult to relate to. This was minor, however, and in no way took away from the whole of the film. Also starring are Laura Dern and Sam Tremmel doing an excellent job as Hazel's parents, Natt Wolf as Gus' best friend, who's purpose was honestly difficult to understand, and Willem Dafoe as Hazel's temporary idol Van Houten. Josh Boone took the director's chair for this picture, whose screenplay was provided from Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber adapting the novel of John Greene. Neustadter and Weber did an excellent job with their adaptation, keeping necessary story plots, eliminating portions that would fit well for a book but would struggle on the screen, while holding dearly on to the abstract and poetic words of author John Greene. Director John Boone's work was hardly noticeable in this film, which is always debatable whether or not that is a good quality. Here, I believe it was. What Boone did allowed the viewer to step into Hazel's small world. A small world filled with countless infinities. There were no extraordinary shots, camera angles, or certain scenes that left watchers breathless; instead, we were there with her. Sitting on her bed waiting for those special texts filled with so much more than a three word message, climbing stairs that felt like both an impossible mountain and the finish line of a marathon, and seeing everyone you care about so much love you more than you can imagine. The work done by these filmmakers did not take us anywhere special, but they allowed us to see life here on earth at its fullest: valuing the people you're with above anything else, whether it's in the form of romance or friendship and especially family at its very best. The Fault in Our Stars is not a movie about cancer. It is a movie about love in all of its truest forms. So as I sat in the theater watching the credits roll with other viewers walking past me wiping their eyes, I smiled. And that's exactly what a movie should do. I give The Fault in Our Stars an 8.6/10.