To A Fault

Rating: 7/10 (7 July 2014)

This film is mildly recommended.
No, the fault is in the story, a simple tale of two teenagers coping with The Big C. Based on the popular YA book, the film, as well as its source, is marketed for an adolescent audience, which is certainly not me. While the subject is adult and serious, the treatment is purely superficial and saccharine. Let's begin to count the ways this weepie manipulates its audience and is a disservice to any cancer survivor:
￼1. The Stereotypical Young Lovers: As with all romantic films, the couple must be good- looking and adorable, but more so, the two doomed partners need to be brave and stoic as they buck the odds to keep their love alive. Here, for your approval are Hazel (Shailene Woodley) and Gus (Ansel Elgot), two teenagers who meet cute at a cancer support group and fall head over heels in love. They suffer, as they must, but as one character ruefully points out,"Pain deserves to be felt." Unfortunately, I felt the pain and suffered as does the audience as they spout positive bromides about survival and love rather than real teenage conversation.
2. Dumb Plotting: Director Josh Boone helms the story fairly well, amid all the suds. The screenplay is based on John Green's popular novel and Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber rarely stray from the source material. Both set these lovers on a absurd journey to Amsterdam in order to meet a writer (well played by Willem Dafoe) whose book inspired them to move on with their lives. (This particular section of the film is where I gave up all hope for any sense of truth to enter the picture. Especially cloying is a scene in the Anne Frank house that defies any resemblance to reality.)
￼3. Inconsistent Acting: The Fault in Our Stars does have one stellar performance at its core which slightly elevates the movie. Ms. Woodley is the perfect heroine to play Hazel, bringing nuance and a fine degree of distinction to her melodramatic role. She keeps the mellow at bay and is convincing in her dramatic turns. This talented actress invests in her character and so does the moviegoer. Not the same can be said about her co-star, Mr. Elgort, who brings his puppy dog eyes and handsomeness to the forefront. No subtlety here. It's a surface performance without much depth, a look-good-and-read-your-lines performance. This throws the whole love story out of kilter. (Strong support is also given by Laura Dern and Sam Trammell as Hazel's devoted parents, less than good support by Nat Wolff in the thankless role of as their wacky sick friend, Isaac.)
4. Unrealistic Treatment of an Illness: The film is relentless in its shallow depiction of its disease, always looking at the sunny side of life and looking away from the harrowing effects of cancer. Dying is such an unpleasantness, a mild interruption of life in The Fault is in Our Stars. For every realistic display showing the effects of this debilitating illness, there are an infinite number of life-affirming uplifting moments that overplay the characters' circumstances. The couple's grim fates are always just out of reach, but rarely seen in the true context of death. Death is ugly, but not here. The film doesn't want to be too much of a downer after all.
￼5. A Slow Death Indeed: In conclusion, romantic doom is profitable in films. Screen junkies love a good cry. Look at some past winners in this tear-jerking category: An Affair to Remember, Bridges of Madison County, Ghost, Titanic, The Notebook, Dr. Zhivago, and the granddaddy of all soapy romantic movies, Love Story. The rare few that merit our tears can even be exemplary movies, films that have been sensitively rendered: Gone With the Wind, Brokeback Mountain, Brief Encounter and the two films that always do me in, Casablanca, and Roman Holiday. Those films have the words and pictures and stars in perfect alignment. Just as many soap operas before this, The Fault in Our Stars tries hard but it doesn't earn every drop of moisture lodged in those tear ducts. It may get that whimpering reaction by its final scenes, but that's mostly due to the luminous Shailene Woodley.
Well, I guess every generation needs a Love Story. But as for me...I'll always have Paris or Rome. GRADE: B-
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NOTE: The film poster uses a clever tag line along with the subtle oxygen tubes to hint at the plight of the lovers. It is concise storytelling with the teenage actors as the film's primary draw for its young audience. The poster outdoes the film.