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As authentic as the paper towns the characters speak of, here is a film fooling itself into thinking it is something it is not. Paper Towns, much like the character of Margo, has no idea what it wants to be. Is it a coming of age film? A mystery? A high school comedy? Or is it a road trip flick? It simply has no idea, so it throws as many genres to the wall and sees what sticks. In an age where YA novels are being filmed at a rate faster than Taylor Swift goes through boyfriends, Paper Towns is a quick cash in on the success of the author's previous effort, The Fault In Our Stars.
Quentin, or Q, because giving him a cool nickname somehow gives him character development, falls in love with the new girl across the street, Margo. It's love at first sight, but don't tell him it's lust because it's LOVE DAMMIT. They instantly become friends, but as they grow older, they drift apart. High school hits and Q is still in love with Margo, only she barely gives him the time of day. Instead she'd rather build up the 'mystery' of Margo. One night she climbs in through his window and convinces him to help her with a night a debauchery. Much to his surprise, it's one of the best nights of his life and he's never felt closer to her. He hopes that tomorrow will be different for them, but there is no tomorrow for them. Margo has disappeared, no one knows where she is. Q convinces himself that she has left clues for him and goes on a mission to find her.
One of the aspects of the film that instantly put me off of it was the portrayal of Margo. She's a too cool for school hipster who spits out eloquence that seems out of place. The moment I knew I did not like her character, or how she was written was when she declared her love of random capitalization because the rules are unfair to the letters in the middle. It's distractingly annoying and it doesn't help that Cara Delevingne isn't particularly likable in the role. The alternative mysterious girl has been done before and a lot better in my opinion. On the flip side of things, Nat Wolff as Q, the helpless loser who finally steps out of his comfort zone to pursue love, was decent. Alas, it is something that has been done before. Wolff does fine here, he doesn't distract from the role or the material. His two best friends fill their clichéd high school roles well enough. The sex crazed friend (Dude, your mom is so hot, I want to have sex with her) and the token black friend whose whole character depth involves his family collecting black Santas. He has a girlfriend and they want to have sex too, but want to wait until prom. I'm not positive, but I'm sure that has never been done in a high school comedy before.
If Me Early & The Dying Girl came off as pretentious, this film comes off as desperately wanting to be, but it never finds the right balance of talent to pull it off. One third of the film is good, that's when they decide to take a road trip and the film veers into yet another direction. The best character interactions happen during this sequences and I would have preferred the film to be solely about that. Instead we are stuck with a soulless piece of YA fiction that will be drowned in the sea of countless others. The film wants you to think it has a message, that people are not who you want them to be. That life is NOT like the movies and everything doesn't go your way. Paper Towns is so deep with its understanding of young adults wanting to fit in, not wanting to fit in that it feels the need to have a gag about pissing in a coke can then spilling it on another character. What?
It's a little too late for any of it to take. By the time Q decides to go after her, I was checked out, heck I was probably checked out well before that. Paper Towns is...I hate to say it because I'm sure I'm not the first one...a paper thin film.
Paper Towns
(Jake Schreier)
"You have to get lost before you find yourself."
(Jake Schreier)
"You have to get lost before you find yourself."
As authentic as the paper towns the characters speak of, here is a film fooling itself into thinking it is something it is not. Paper Towns, much like the character of Margo, has no idea what it wants to be. Is it a coming of age film? A mystery? A high school comedy? Or is it a road trip flick? It simply has no idea, so it throws as many genres to the wall and sees what sticks. In an age where YA novels are being filmed at a rate faster than Taylor Swift goes through boyfriends, Paper Towns is a quick cash in on the success of the author's previous effort, The Fault In Our Stars.
Quentin, or Q, because giving him a cool nickname somehow gives him character development, falls in love with the new girl across the street, Margo. It's love at first sight, but don't tell him it's lust because it's LOVE DAMMIT. They instantly become friends, but as they grow older, they drift apart. High school hits and Q is still in love with Margo, only she barely gives him the time of day. Instead she'd rather build up the 'mystery' of Margo. One night she climbs in through his window and convinces him to help her with a night a debauchery. Much to his surprise, it's one of the best nights of his life and he's never felt closer to her. He hopes that tomorrow will be different for them, but there is no tomorrow for them. Margo has disappeared, no one knows where she is. Q convinces himself that she has left clues for him and goes on a mission to find her.
One of the aspects of the film that instantly put me off of it was the portrayal of Margo. She's a too cool for school hipster who spits out eloquence that seems out of place. The moment I knew I did not like her character, or how she was written was when she declared her love of random capitalization because the rules are unfair to the letters in the middle. It's distractingly annoying and it doesn't help that Cara Delevingne isn't particularly likable in the role. The alternative mysterious girl has been done before and a lot better in my opinion. On the flip side of things, Nat Wolff as Q, the helpless loser who finally steps out of his comfort zone to pursue love, was decent. Alas, it is something that has been done before. Wolff does fine here, he doesn't distract from the role or the material. His two best friends fill their clichéd high school roles well enough. The sex crazed friend (Dude, your mom is so hot, I want to have sex with her) and the token black friend whose whole character depth involves his family collecting black Santas. He has a girlfriend and they want to have sex too, but want to wait until prom. I'm not positive, but I'm sure that has never been done in a high school comedy before.
If Me Early & The Dying Girl came off as pretentious, this film comes off as desperately wanting to be, but it never finds the right balance of talent to pull it off. One third of the film is good, that's when they decide to take a road trip and the film veers into yet another direction. The best character interactions happen during this sequences and I would have preferred the film to be solely about that. Instead we are stuck with a soulless piece of YA fiction that will be drowned in the sea of countless others. The film wants you to think it has a message, that people are not who you want them to be. That life is NOT like the movies and everything doesn't go your way. Paper Towns is so deep with its understanding of young adults wanting to fit in, not wanting to fit in that it feels the need to have a gag about pissing in a coke can then spilling it on another character. What?
It's a little too late for any of it to take. By the time Q decides to go after her, I was checked out, heck I was probably checked out well before that. Paper Towns is...I hate to say it because I'm sure I'm not the first one...a paper thin film.