The Fault in Our Stars: What's The Buzz All About?

Rating: 9/10 (24 February 2015)

The movie, The Fault in Our Stars, was originally based of the novel by John Green. This comedic drama is an excellent and accurate portrayal of the novel. Production elements that are included enhance the overall movie and add depth to the plot and characters. The protagonist, Hazel Grace, played by Shailene Woodley, takes part in many voice-over scenes. She reflects on the events going on in her life, therefore cueing in the viewer to the emotional side of her brain. This voice-over technique is beneficial because it gives her character an introspective trait. In a dramatic movie, introspective characters are essential to allowing the audience to feel the ways the characters do, as a narrator would do for the reader of a novel.
The actors chosen for this movie did an exceptional job of capturing the emotion felt in each scene. Some scenes between Hazel and Gus, played by Ansel Elgort, were playful and filled with the youth and innocence a teenager carries while others were saddening and haunted by the gloom of nearing death. Both of these strong, yet opposite emotions were carried out in many of the scenes. The movie provides a good, clear message to people who are going through a tough time like the main characters. The characters both find something to look forward to in their lives that seemed to be flooded by negativity. This idea is significant to the movie and also significant to people experiencing similar feelings.
Fundamentally, this movie captures two teenagers trying to live a positive life after being effected by cancer. The on screen chemistry between Gus and Hazel is impeccable and the loss of Gus brings instant tears to your eyes. This young love is a great one and the characters chosen for the roles portrayed the characters in the book accurately. Their chemistry together proved to get them through the worst of situations and undeniably sad ending never ended their love for one another.
Speaking of good acting, Hazel grace truly captures the anger of a teenager who has loss respect for a role model. When she meets Peter Van Houten, played by Willem Dafoe, she finds out he is a drunk. He is openly rude to them and blatantly offensive towards their sicknesses. The scene is very powerful with lots of emotion and frustration. Hazel perfectly reflected the part of a flustered teenager trying to express anger, while Gus tried to bring her back to earth and turn the situation into a position one. Later, the movie reveals Peter Van Houten's anger stems from him losing his daughter to cancer when she was a young age. Still, his actions were unacceptable and Hazel's anger was justifiable. The emotional aspect of the movie added new depth to plot line.
On a separate note, the soundtrack was fitting for the movie and some of the songs took off and hit the top charts. The music for movies is important because it sets the mood for the upcoming scenes. In this case, each of the songs expressed either positive or negative emotion. At the peaks of the movie, for example, their trip to Amsterdam, the song is very upbeat and provokes positive energy, which reflects what the characters are all feeling. The use of music enhanced the movie greatly.
Out of all the elements that were used in this movie to make it a great and memorable one, there is one aspect they didn't really touch on. Both Hazel and Gus had cancer and were going through treatments. The movie failed to go in-depth about the medical side of this story and touch upon what was entailed by each of their cancers. To make this movie more relatable and down-to earth the producers could have added facts and information about thyroid cancer, which Hazel had, and the cancer that Gus had. There were several other characters involved, for example Gus' friend or the other kids in the support group, who also had cancer that could have been further explained.
Overall rating: 9.2/10