Movie Review: The Fault in Our Stars

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Written by Anthony Sargon

It’s very easy to point at a movie like The Fault in our Stars and accuse it of being a manipulative affair with no desire other than to see how many times its largely female audience will burst into tears. And to be completely frank, some of that is certainly true, but it’d be unfair to dismiss the film as this decade’s A Walk to Remember. It isn’t perfect and it most certainly isn’t for everyone, but The Fault in our Stars manages to overcome its shortcomings thanks to heartfelt performances and great chemistry between leads Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort.

When cancer patient Hazel Grace Lancaster (Shailene Woodley) is pressured into attending a support group by her parents, she meets Augustus Waters (Ansel Elgort), a cancer survivor and amputee. Because of her deteriorating condition, Hazel does her best to keep Augustus from getting attached to her, but that does little to help. As she and Augustus begin to fall in love, questions of life, love, and death begin to arise as the ever-looming threat of cancer looks to destroy their relationship, one way or another.

Shailene Woodley is really incredible in this film. She’s extremely relatable and likable as Hazel, and gives the film a strong emotional core. She’s been on a roll lately, and I’d actually be a bit bummed out if she doesnt reprise her role as Mary Jane in the next Spidey flick. Ansel Elgort, while perhaps not being the most skilled actor, has charm to spare as Augustus Waters. If anything, he’s a bit too likable and affable, which will make boyfriends the world over feel extremely incompetent. It’s always great to see Laura Dern doing her thing, and she’s absolutely amazing as Hazel’s mom.

Cancer is an extremely touchy subject, and I imagine that most people have sadly known someone suffering from that terrible affliction. 2011′s 50/50 worked so well because it didn’t over-dramatize anything. When you shed a tear, you shed it because you genuinely felt for what Joseph Gordon Levitt’s character was going through.

While it often feels like The Fault in our Stars director Josh Boone is beating you over the head screaming “ARE YOU CRYING YET?” it doesn’t necessarily feel exploitative because the chemistry between Woodley and Elgort feels real enough that you buy into their relationship. You grow to like what they have, and I’d go as far as to say that it’s inspiring at times. The fact that’s it’s a doomed relationship makes it sad no matter how hard or little one tries to sell it.

But the film has its issues, and they do detract from the overall experience. There’s a 5-minute scene that takes place in a museum that made me want to punch someone, and the film’s dialogue didn’t feel like anything two teenagers would say. The film is based on the John Green novel by the same name, and while I haven’t read the book (I wasn’t even aware of it before the movie’s release), I would have probably been able to guess based on dialogue alone.

The Verdict:

It’s often cheesy, melodramatic, and most definitely depressing, but The Fault in our Stars earns a recommendation thanks to a big heart and some great performances.

Numerical Score: 7/10

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