'The Fault in Our Stars': What are critics saying about the movie adaptation?
The movie adaptation of 鈥淭he Fault in Our Stars,鈥� John Green鈥檚 acclaimed young adult novel that follows two teenagers who meet at a cancer support group and fall in love, hits theaters today. Is the film version of 鈥淔ault鈥� a satisfying cinematic experience?聽
Many have given the movie mostly positive reviews, with Monitor critic Peter Rainer giving the movie a B, saying that he thinks 鈥渄irector Josh Boone and screenwriters Scott聽Neustadter and Michael Weber don鈥檛 pile on the mush.鈥�
鈥�Shailene Woodley gives an ardent, nuanced聽performance,鈥� Rainer wrote of the actress who portrays Hazel Grace Lancaster, a teenager who was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. 鈥淚f [Hazel鈥檚 boyfriend Augustus] had been less of a fantasy, the movie聽might have been grittier and even sadder, but clearly that鈥檚 not the vibe the聽filmmakers were going for. They want credit for being hard-hitting, and聽they are. But they also have stars in their eyes.鈥�
critic Betsy Sharkey was impressed by how the movie 鈥渙ffer[s] real issues for the young protagonists to wrestle with.鈥�
鈥溾�橣ault鈥� is a certifiable weepie, but it comes by most of its emotions honestly. Boone uses plausible situations to stir up feelings, without the heart-tugging calculation that brings so many tear-jerkers down,鈥� Sharkey wrote. 鈥淭he dialogue is clever without being pretentious鈥� Elgort is pretty adorable as Gus, the actor exhibiting leading guy potential. The chemistry he and Woodley share seems very organic, some of it no doubt rooted in time spent together on "Divergent," in which he played her brother. Elgort has a very appealing way of making sure Gus' confidence stops just short of cocky. But Woodley is the one who binds the film together, heals all of its wounds. She gives Hazel the right level of strength and vulnerability, resistance and acceptance, to create a real girl living in a real world.鈥�
reviewer Ann Hornaday was similarly won over, calling the film 鈥渁 wise, warm, funny and touching romantic drama.鈥�
鈥溾�橳he Fault in Our Stars鈥� brims with the kind of adolescent goofiness, searching and spiky anger that marked the John Hughes and Cameron Crowe films of another era,鈥� Hornaday wrote. 鈥淏y now Woodley has proven her bona fides鈥� The revelation here is Elgort 鈥� last seen playing Woodley鈥檚 brother in 鈥楧ivergent鈥� 鈥� who brings real subtlety and ease to a character whose vulnerability can always be felt peeking through the studied bravado. (He is essentially playing a guy playing another guy 鈥� in this case, Gus playing the brave, quirky cancer-kid.) They鈥檙e an enormously appealing couple.鈥澛�
Meanwhile, reviewer A.O. Scott found the movie to be 鈥渁n expertly built machine for the mass production of tears.鈥澛�
鈥淸Shailene Woodley鈥檚] un-self-conscious performance is the perfect mirror of her character鈥檚 pragmatic temperament,鈥� Scott wrote. 鈥淏ecause she never asks for approval, we are entirely in her thrall鈥� Though it is a tragic love story, it is also a perfect and irresistible fantasy. Hazel and Gus possess an absolute moral authority, an ability to assert the truth of their experience that few can share and many might covet. They know the meaning of their own lives, and try as it might, the movie can鈥檛 help but give cancer credit for this state of perfection. There is something disturbing about that, and also, therefore, about the source of some of the tears the movie calls forth.鈥�
