Great Performances But A Bit Sappy (Scene Set Up, No True Spoilers)

Rating: 8/10 (25 June 2014)

I was one of those people who had read the book before seeing the film. Unfortunately, when readers read a good book, they can use their imagination and create whatever visual they want in their heads and it takes that book and story and makes it wonderful for them. Whenever the movie version is made, the director knows people have high expectations and has to make the characters from the book come alive and be utterly believable. I am NOT a fan of Woodley. She is overexposed and like Lawrence or Stewart, keeps appearing in too many movies back to back, BUT......she was excellent in this role. How difficult to have Ansel play your brother in the movie Divergent only weeks before, then have the guy appear on the screen as your love interest next. This is the stuff that makes me crazy about Hollywood. The same people appear too often. With that being said, they both portrayed the ill teens in an excellent manner. Laura Dern was a bit over the top for me and too sappy. I love Trammel and thought he was in the background too much. The first half of the movie seemed too slow and draggy for me, but then I also knew what was coming so I stuck with it. It's the last half of the film that grabs the audience. The moment he takes Hazel outside and sits on that park bench in Amsterdam. THEN, the movie gets good. If there aren't at least a couple of Oscar nods on this, I'll be surprised because the film deserves them. Some reviewers didn't like the music that would swell up during certain scenes but I actually didn't notice the music which is a good sign that the film has you in its grip. 8 out of 10 for me, only because of the slow first 45 mins in the beginning and some truly sappy moments.