The Fault in Our Stars Movie Review

Kleenex is going to make a fortune...

The Fault in Our Stars is the next big teen novel movie that was inevitably going to be made because that is just what happens in Hollywood nowadays. The movie stars Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort who play Hazel and Gus respectively and the film goes on to tell their story of love and how they both get on and enjoy their lives despite being dealt life's cruellest hand; cancer.

Personally romance films are just not for me. I never get overly excited about the genre and I have never really understood a lot of the hype that comes with movies like The Fault in Our Stars. That being said I went into the film thinking that it was going to be sappy as shit and that I was going to dislike it. The Fault in Our Stars actually surprised me. It's not perfect by a long shot but I did like a lot of what I was seeing.

The best thing this movie has going for it is Shailene Woodley and her performance. She is so good and I think delivers the best female performance of the year so far. She's such a talented actress and that really shows as she brings to life her character (Hazel) in a way where she has an incredible amount of depth but is also extremely likeable. The performance is heart-breaking, yet incredibly good as she is so real with her acting and gives great emotional weight to her character, which you as an audience member will desperately love and care for. She's so damn likeable!

The chemistry between her and Elgort was pretty good. It wasn't mind blowing or anything but the two actors worked well with each other and about half way through the film I seriously believed that these two characters were falling in love with each other. They were such a cute couple, and Elgort also puts in a good performance especially in the third act of this movie, where tears will most likely be shed I promise. However during the first act of the movie I didn't believe Elgort's character at all, which is probably why throughout the entire film I wanted the relationship to endure because it would make Shailene Woodley's character happy! For two acts of the film this guy was practically invincible and just too perfect, which isn't really something I enjoyed watching!

The film is still directed with patience and sensitivity by Josh Boone and the script is handled with care and it really puts an emphasis on the characters. The film mixes its emotional tones in a way which didn't feel forced and the pacing flowed nearly perfectly from act 1 to act 2 to act 3. Yet I still think that had we scene 10 minutes edited out from either act 1 or 2 (or a mix of both), the gut wrenching final act of the film would've been better received by myself.

My biggest complaint with the film though is that while at times its narrative makes perfectly clear that it is trying to avoid genre conventions and romance movie clichés, it sometimes does adhere to those conventions and those clichés. There were a few moments when it did start to feel a little clichéd along with some moments where it did border into sappy. Half of the time the emotional was real and it came from those excellent subtle moments, in particular one scene involving Hazel's mother, who's played well be Laura Dern. The other half saw moments where the film desperately reaches out to you and begs you to cry.

While I was pleasantly surprised by it, The Fault in Our Stars didn't blow me away and take me on an unforgettable emotional rollercoaster. But it was written, directed and acted well so I had a pleasant time watching it and I bet you will to.


Rating - B-


1 sentence summary - Shailene Woodley's star performance the shining light in a movie which will probably make you cry once, if not more!



Question: What's your favourite romance film of all time. Mine is Spike Jonze's "Her" (2013).


Thanks for reading,
Matt