Teenagers facing life and premature death issues.

Rating: Null/10 (13 October 2014)

I found this one on DVD from my local public library. It is a good movie, although it has a few too many very slow-moving scenes. It deals with teenagers with illnesses that will likely take their lives all too soon.
I became a fan of young Shailene Woodley when she was the lead in that teenage TV series in 2008. She is a very pretty girl who also looks very innocent. While she might not have looked "rough" enough for the role in "Divergent", here she is perfect as Hazel who has been fighting a type of cancer and weakened lungs. So much so that she has an oxygen machine with her everywhere.
Young actor Ansel Elgort is an interesting pick for her love interest. In their last movie he and Woodley had the role of siblings in "Divergent". Here he is Gus, a cancer survivor with an artificial right leg. Hazel and Gus met at a support group meeting.
The focus of the story is Hazel's, seeming to accept her fate and not understand all the fuss everyone else is making, particularly her parents, Laura Dern as Frannie and Sam Trammell as Michael. But her meeting Gus causes her hope for the first time, he falls in love with her and she eventually with him, even as she does not understand why.
An interesting development involves Willem Dafoe as Van Houten, Hazel's favorite author. Gus corresponds on her behalf, resulting in an invitation for her to travel to Amsterdam to meet him. It is there that she achieves the clarity of her purpose and life.
It is a sad and yet uplifting movie at the same time.