Shailene Woodley is amazing

Rating: Null/10 (18 August 2014)

Not as bad as I expected from the trailer, not as good as I had hoped after seeing the reviews. It's not all that great, but it's not bad either. It's shamelessly, even overly sentimental, totally unsubtle, but hey, it works somewhat most of the time. Probably the biggest reason for this is Shailene Woodley. I remember thinking she was really impressive in The Descendants, even in her limited screen time. Then I saw her in The Spectacular Now, and yes, I became a bigger fan. She's pretty amazing here, an actress completely capable of naturally selling the roles she plays, without making them ever feel artificial or contrived. I wish her a long, very successful career, and when it comes to certain things, she's better than the current it-girl Jennifer Lawrence. Ansel Elgort doesn't fare as well. He has some good scenes, but somehow he just comes across pretty unconvincing.