If You Read The Book You'll Enjoy It, If Not Then You'll Most Likely Hate It

Rating: 9/10 (5 June 2014)

The Fault In Our Stars. Another book turned movie in recent years due to peoples inability to make stuff up themselves.
We have the story of Hazel Grace Lancaster played by the lovely Shailene Woodley (who seems to be on her way to becoming the new Jennifer Lawrence. She doesn't really need the replacement already but I digress) and Augustus Waters played by Ansel Elgort.
Now to be fair I did read the book but I went into this strictly to see how well it was as a movie and you know what? It was actually pretty enjoyable. You can tell it's definitely aimed at the young adult/teenage audience with it's attractive young actors, teenage humor and well... young love. Do these things take away from it for adults? Wellll if they didn't read and enjoy the book then most likely. I sat in a packed house of teenage girls, their mothers and boyfriends who looked like they really didn't want to be there. I left the theater and didn't hear anything but weeping from about 90% of the crowd.
Alright let's look into the story. Hazel is a young cancer patient who's lungs don't work properly but doctors have given her an air tank to drag around and help her breath. She goes to cancer support groups where she meets Augustus Waters, a young, philosophical man who lost his leg due to his cancer. Over time they begin to develop feelings for each other. She shows him a book that she loves and he decides that he will use his make a wish foundation wish to let her meet the author of said book. Upon meeting him he turns out to be a drunk who wants nothing to do with them. To make up for what the author did Augustus takes her around Amsterdam to see the sights and she admits that she has fallen in love with him. The next day he admits that his cancer has returned with a vengeance and he doesn't have long to live. Hazel and her friend Isaac (played by Nat Wolff, who actually does a great job in this role)write Augustus eulogies before he dies so that he may attend his own funeral. Augustus sadly dies 8 days later and at his funeral the author returns to give Hazel a letter that Augustus wrote for her.
A very long and complex story gives you enough humor and tear jerking moments to keep lovers of the book and lovers of the romance genre satisfied. Along with that, it follows the source material very very well. John Green himself said the movie followed his book very well. They leave out little details but they're all forgivable. A movie that follows it's source this well is a rare find these days but I'm very happy with the final result. An A+ book gets an A+ retelling on the big screen.
What about acting? People are saying Shailene Woodley gave the best performance and I won't deny that she did a great job portraying Hazel but honestly to me the stand outs were Ansel as Augustus and Willem Dafoe as Peter Van Houton (the drunk author). My guess is most males are going to say Ansel was just playing the pretty boy role that anyone could do but honestly I thought he was a very enjoyable person to watch. I laughed at all his jokes, I felt myself welling up when Hazel finds him slowly dying at the gas station. Willem Dafoe also was very enjoyable to watch, he makes a good drunk, I'll give him that. One of the big surprises here out of everyone was Nat Wolff as Isaac. You remember him? From The Naked Brothers Band on Nickelodeon? That guy has really matured and grown as an actor and I'm glad. It's good to see child stars grow up to do good things.
The verdict. The Fault In Our Stars is a faithful, light hearted, retelling of a great novel.
a solid 9/10 for me.