The Energy Was Palpable When They Wade The Effort

Rating: 8/10 (28 September 2014)

Plot
Hazel (Shailene Woodley) has cancer and may die of it. The prospects don't look great. Her mother (Laura Dern) is worried about her and thinks she is depressed because she keeps rereading the same book so she instructs Hazel to go to a cancer support group. During the course of a meeting she is introduced to Gus (Ansel Elgort) and Isaac (Nat Wolff). Gus makes a pass at Hazel who looked intrigued by the offer, but not all together moved by it. Slowly Gus is successful in winning Hazel's affections after agreeing to read her favorite book. It is after this time when Hazel confides in Gus that she tried to contact the author and was unable to get a reply. Later when Gus tries contacting the author he gets an invitation to meet the author himself at his home in Amsterdam. Hazel is delighted in having the opportunity to talk to her beloved author in person and discuss what happened to the characters in the story she was reading after the book was finished. Only she doesn't know if she can make the trip because her doctors told her she is too sick to go and her mom told her they might not be able to afford it.
Character Development
The impressive trend of this film is that the whole cast goes through a transformation of one kind or another and unlike a great many films, this film's time-line leaves room for that to happen. The two leads spend much of the screen time with one another and slowly build a relationship. An interesting element of the storytelling involves superimposing text-ting messages and emails onto the screen instead of having the audience read over someone's shoulder. And then there was a tender moment when the couple picked one special word they would use to signify their love.
Acting
Impressive acting all around, though Nat Wolff's character was at times very irritating, but I don't know how much of it is the actor's fault and how much of that is the writing. I think it could swing either way; most likely something that the director (Josh Boone) could have squared away if he had the means. I also thought that Sam Trammell's character was underutilized, but that would be another problem with the writing. He had a couple poignant little scenes, only it wasn't much. He was left behind a great deal of the way. Willem Dafoe was another actor that was underutilized, though that had to do with the fact that he was given a small role. I know it is said that there are no small roles, only small actors; yet the honest truth is that he had a small role and he did the best with it that he could and he did show some growth.
Overview
There are a few unforeseen twists along the way that keeps this rather weepy tale from getting stale and they all work within the logic framework of the story and are quite clever in their design. Nothing can be taken for granted here and about anything could happen. One thread of the story goes one way and just when you think it has run its course it continues along the same path in the next scene. Generally I was entertained for the most part, yet there were moments and some unpleasant stretches of time that began to lull a bit too much or irritate. I could definitely notice this awkwardness because when things began to fall into place in the end and I could feel the difference in the storytelling. The energy was palpable when they made the effort.