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#484 - The Fault in our Stars
Josh Boone, 2014
A teenage girl with terminal lung cancer attends a support group and befriends a teenage boy whose own cancer is in remission.
The fact that I not only read The Fault in our Stars but also watched the film version twice would suggest that, deep down, I actually sort of like the story. In fairness, the first viewing was on an airplane and the second viewing was a cable recording that somebody else wanted to watch, but that still doesn't excuse reading the whole book considering how I can barely finish the books I want to read these days. I guess I just had to know what the big deal was considering how large a book about teenage cancer patients loomed so large in the cultural consciousness, and it's pretty easy to come to the conclusion that The Fault in our Stars is simply not a "me" movie, but I figure I can at least try to meet the film on its own terms. The main sticking point in this regard can be credited to its two leads, Hazel (Shailene Woodley) and Augustus (Ansel Elgort). The former is the viewpoint character, a teenage girl who definitely has terminal lung cancer that is only kept in check by an experimental drug program. When Hazel is encouraged to attend a cancer support group in a church basement, she meets Augustus, whose sunny disposition and tendency towards clever turns of phrase initially repel but ultimately charm Hazel and soon a bond develops between them.
The two leads develop a rapport built on their incredibly precocious idioms that draw unfavourable comparisons to the contrived diction of the eponymous teenager from Juno, and just because I can understand the reasons why they interact the way that they do doesn't mean it doesn't feel rather dull. Throwing veteran actors like Laura Dern and Willem Dafoe into the mix does help the material out somewhat, but the whole thing is awfully slow-moving and what little there is to distinguish it isn't especially well-done (consider the extremely tone-deaf nature of the scene that happens when the pair visit the Anne Frank museum, though I will concede that a certain church scene towards the end of the film is a good concept). Peppering the soundtrack with all sorts of blandly forgettable bits of modern indie pop doesn't exactly sweeten the deal. The Fault in our Stars is a passable tragicomic indie romance that has some personality but that doesn't necessarily endear it to me. While I've managed to watch twice now, it's only managed to confirm that there's not enough of worth here to make me think I need a third.
Josh Boone, 2014
A teenage girl with terminal lung cancer attends a support group and befriends a teenage boy whose own cancer is in remission.
The fact that I not only read The Fault in our Stars but also watched the film version twice would suggest that, deep down, I actually sort of like the story. In fairness, the first viewing was on an airplane and the second viewing was a cable recording that somebody else wanted to watch, but that still doesn't excuse reading the whole book considering how I can barely finish the books I want to read these days. I guess I just had to know what the big deal was considering how large a book about teenage cancer patients loomed so large in the cultural consciousness, and it's pretty easy to come to the conclusion that The Fault in our Stars is simply not a "me" movie, but I figure I can at least try to meet the film on its own terms. The main sticking point in this regard can be credited to its two leads, Hazel (Shailene Woodley) and Augustus (Ansel Elgort). The former is the viewpoint character, a teenage girl who definitely has terminal lung cancer that is only kept in check by an experimental drug program. When Hazel is encouraged to attend a cancer support group in a church basement, she meets Augustus, whose sunny disposition and tendency towards clever turns of phrase initially repel but ultimately charm Hazel and soon a bond develops between them.
The two leads develop a rapport built on their incredibly precocious idioms that draw unfavourable comparisons to the contrived diction of the eponymous teenager from Juno, and just because I can understand the reasons why they interact the way that they do doesn't mean it doesn't feel rather dull. Throwing veteran actors like Laura Dern and Willem Dafoe into the mix does help the material out somewhat, but the whole thing is awfully slow-moving and what little there is to distinguish it isn't especially well-done (consider the extremely tone-deaf nature of the scene that happens when the pair visit the Anne Frank museum, though I will concede that a certain church scene towards the end of the film is a good concept). Peppering the soundtrack with all sorts of blandly forgettable bits of modern indie pop doesn't exactly sweeten the deal. The Fault in our Stars is a passable tragicomic indie romance that has some personality but that doesn't necessarily endear it to me. While I've managed to watch twice now, it's only managed to confirm that there's not enough of worth here to make me think I need a third.