Will Hold Your Interest Even If You Don't Get Into The "Sad Stuff"

Rating: 6/10 (28 February 2017)

When I sat down to watch "The Fault In Our Stars", I was worried that it would be nothing but a "kleenex box flick". Much like guys can be drawn to the theater with the right quota of explosions, special effects, and superheroes, the same can often be said for women only with really sad stories. That is kind of how this movie is marketed too...as a real tear-jerker. Luckily, the film does enough besides the "waterworks" moments to keep your interest throughout. It isn't just all sadness and crying.
For a basic plot summary, this movie focuses on Hazel (Shailene Woodley), a teenager living with a rare form of cancer that makes her (in her own words) a "ticking time bomb". At a cancer support group (that Hazel usually loathes, of course), she meets Gus (Ansel Elgort), a fellow youngster who also happens to have a less-severe form of cancer. The two strike up a conversation, which leads to a friendship, which leads to a romance. Through a mutual interest in a mysterious author (played by Willem Dafoe), Hazel, her parents (played by Laura Dern & Sam Trammell), and Gus go off on a "last wish" adventure to find this author and have him explain the ending of his most famous book.
I won't go into any spoilers on what makes this movie so "sad", but when you consider it is about two kids with cancer, you can probably put two and two together. If you are into emotional speeches and heart-stirring (for better or worse) scenarios, then you will indeed need a tissue box handy. However, even a 28-year old male like me was able to sit through the film without rolling my eyes or tuning out. Though coated with adolescent angst and high-profile teen actors, the kernel of emotion transferred from the core of the story (although I have not read the book, so I can't get into the differences) to the big screen remains poignant.
"The Fault In Out Stars" probably gets a bit of a "bum rap" right now because the general market is so saturated with these types of stories. I kind of compare it to "The Giver" in that regard. Yet, one must remember that is was John Green's book that practically STARTED this entire genre; it just took awhile for it to get transferred to Hollywood.
On my personal ranking scale this movie would get a 3.5-star ranking, but I'll bump it up to four stars here because it is a touching story with even a little comedy and light-heartedness thrown into the mix. While the core of the story may be very emotional, it isn't all "doom and gloom".