You Ought to Forget about Dying and be Glad You're Living

Rating: 5/10 (30 July 2014)

This reviews contains LOTS of spoilers, if you are not wanting the movie to be completely given away, please find a different review.
Meet Hazel Grace Lancaster, a 17 year old girl with lung cancer. Meet Augustas, Hazel Grace's boyfriend, who also has cancer. The movie isn't exactly slow, it just doesn't pick up until the middle because of the character introductions. When Hazel was diagnosed at the age of thirteen, she was granted one wish, and she used it to go to Disney Land and Epcot Center. Gus, however, saved his wish. Hazel wants to meet the Author of her favourite book, who happens to live in Amsterdam. Well, after a few set backs, Hazel her mom and Gus are on their way to meet this Author. The Author even pays for a very nice dinner date for Hazel and Augustas, where they drink champagne and discuss philosophy. Oh, and fall in love. You see, Hazel is dying and because of this she doesn't want to love anyone extra who will be hurt by her passing. What Gus doesn't tell Hazel, is that he too is dying and that the cancer has spread to the lining of all his major organs, lungs, liver, stomach, etc. then they make out after dinner (or at least mostly do). When they meet the Author he turns out to be a grieving drunk who lost his daughter at the age of eight to leukemia. He tells them about greater and smaller infinities and Swedish Hip Hop. When all dying Hazel wants is the answer to three characters who are left behind when Anna, the main character, dies. Naturally, Hazel and Gus become mad at the Author because they wasted Gus' Wish on the Author and he didn't even grant the Wish: tell them about the characters who were left behind. Disappointed, they tour the Anne Frank house. It has two flights of steep stairs and a ladder, to get to the top, where they lived. Then they return home and resume their everyday lives and continue their fights with cancer.
Traditional Romeo and Juliet story: he even dies first.
There are a LOT of factual errors, my sister and I finally just started sitting there counting them all. The Anne Frank house has two steep stair cases and a ladder. Hazel is a very stubborn girl, (in the movie Hazel carries her own tank up both flights of stairs and the ladder, with a little assistance from the Author's Assisant), but in all reality Gus should've carried the O2 tank and passed it over Hazel's shoulder up to the Author's assistant and she carried it the other half of the way. Repeating the process for each case. When Gus is diagnosed with the relapse and he becomes so weak that he is in a wheelchair, he should've also been placed on oxygen because by that point the cancer was in his lungs and he was down to less than 30% capacity. And another thing, Hazel has been on oxygen for a number of months (minimally) and has no indignation from the candela pressing on her cheeks, or dryness around her nose and cheeks from the constant air pressure. And lastly, towards the end, where Hazel and Gus are both weak from the cancer taking over their vital organs, they decide to go out to a park not terribly far, but far enough, from Gus' house. And have one last picnic date. Hazel pushes Gus (theoretically she'd be pushed over 240 lbs. and pulling another 25-30 behind her) over uneven ground, and up a small incline. I would be winded and she barely pauses before they start talking and drinking more champagne. It's never said where an 18 year old and a 17 year old precursor a bottle of very nice champagne from.
The only redeeming points in the movie are that their older, not your usual 15 year olds. And that they dress up very nicely when doing grown up activities, not overly mature, just enough. And that they actually come across as mature, not whiny little children.
They think a lot about death and how their going to die before they can do anything in life. But what is keeping any of us live until we're old? And of us could get in our cars today and die a million different ways. There isn't anything different about living life with a terminal illness and dying anyway. I say enjoy today and live for tomorrow. None of are guaranteed a ripe old age. And you don't want to be remembered as then person who only thought about dying and forgot they're living!