The Fault in our Stars Review

I had not heard of The Fault in our Stars (2014) before having a friend suggest we go see it together at the theaters. I did a little research and it looked for all the world like an independent romance film cram packed with every romantic trope to ever be written for a chick flick. I begrudgingly went along to see the movie expecting a rehash of A Walk to Remember, but I was pleasantly surprised by a well written drama with some interesting and dynamic characters.

Hazel (Shailene Woodley) and Gus (Ansel Elgort) are two teenagers who share an sardonic wit, a disdain for the conventional, and a love that transcends their physical ailments. Sixteen-year-old Hazel suffers from thyroid cancer and needs a portable oxygen tank to breathe adequately. Hazel is forced by her well intending parents (Laura Dern and Sam Trammell) to attend a support group for teens with cancer. During one of the meetings she meets seventeen-year-old Agustus, an ex-basketball player and amputee. Gus had osteosarcoma, but he is now cancer-free after having his leg amputated. Gus's incessant flirting results in the two forming a relationship and falling in love, but the relationship is anything but miraculous given the disabilities each one has and the prospect of death looming over them.

One of my many complaints about The Bucket List is how lightly it takes the subject of cancer. The characters in The Bucket List seem to suffer from a cancer that is nothing like cancer; the movie is so optimistic about cancer that the writers can't possibly know anything about it. In most Nicholas Sparks stories, such as A Walk to Remember, the terminal illness is treated like nothing more than a sad plot twist that is thrown in with no reason other than to jerk tears. The Fault in our Stars, however, depicts cancer in a very realistic way in all of its depressing, terrifying, and painful glory. I expected a rehash of A Walk to Remember, but The Fault in our Stars takes the bold move of having both lovers have cancer. No, this is not a romance that has a tragic twist at the end, it's a tragic drama that has a love story in it. That alone makes The Fault in our Stars a much more solid and interesting story than A Walk to Remember or The Bucket List ever was.

The characters in The Fault in our Stars were really interesting. Hazel struggles with depression, being a burden to her parents, avoids connecting with other people, and feeling like a time bomb of emotional trauma to those around her when she inevitably dies. Under similar circumstances, I could see myself struggling with those very same issues; Hazel is very relatable. Gus is the quintessential optimistic cancer patient, he's the type you hear about overcoming terminal illness based solely on hopefulness and a desire to keep going. But even ominous reality of death and the oblivion that lies beyond it cracks Gus's buoyancy from time to time. Gus's cheerful brightness contrasts his rare meltdowns so starkly that it makes the reality of death all the more terrifying.

The only other movie I've seen Shailene Woodley in is Divergent.  She didn't exactly have great material to work with there. Woodley's acting skills really shine through here. She's amazing. She handles a tragic character beautifully and makes her portrayal of Hazel seem effortless. She's an actor to watch for in the future. I've only seen Laura Dern in Jurassic Park and in a small cameo in Jurassic Park 3. But I think she played one of the more impactful roles in the movie. We see this scene repeatedly in a flashback where young Hazel is on her death bed at the hospital and in great pain from the medical treatment of her thyroid cancer. Hazel's mom is trying to stay supportive and optimistic, but is in great emotional distress at seeing her daughter in so much pain and so near death. She smiles warmly to her daughter and tells her that she can let go and let the pain go away, and then turns to her husband collapsing into tears and cries because she won't be a mother anymore. While we return to this flashback several times, it doesn't become any less affecting. The acting is absolutely incredible.

There are plenty of romantic moments in The Fault in our Stars. At first they are predictable, cliché, and very cheesy. When Hazel and Gus first meet and he starts flirting I couldn't help but think, "Ugh... are they really doing that?" It wasn't anything I hadn't seen repeatedly in other movies, and yet before the end of each scene I caught myself thinking, "Aww... that's so sweet!" I couldn't help but get caught up in the romance between the characters. There were many times when it was cheesy, yes, but it was handled in such a way that I was not taken out of the story for an almighty eye-roll as I was in A Walk to Remember. The difference is these were characters I actually cared about and were invested in and the dialogue wasn't forced and trite. When romance is done well in a movie it can be good, but it usually is cheesy and full of lines that no one with any real eloquence would say. But the romance in The Fault in our Stars was good and solid, if a little corny sometimes.

I truly didn't want to like The Fault in our Stars. I fully expected a sappy Nicholas Sparks style of story; devoid of interesting characters, romantic dialogue that no real person would say, and a story so sickly sweet that you'd need to brush your teeth afterwards. But none of that was the case here. I genuinely liked all the characters, I actually liked the romantic moments in this movie, and there was some very real drama in this movie. The story is wise, funny, and heartbreaking without resorting to cheap clichés and exploitation. The sweetness of the romance is overshadowed by the dark prospect of death, and gives it a very down-to-earth depiction of cancer. It's not just the patient that is pained by it; this movie shows how it affects everyone the patient knows and how painful it is for loved ones to see them suffer. The Fault in our Stars is a good solid movie that is romantic, funny, and philosophical. I think that if you enjoy dramas and romance movies, this is one worth catching in theaters. Make sure you bring some tissues, though. I cried a lot during this movie. I even think this is good enough to justify owning a copy of once it is available on Blu-Ray.

Well written movies should get an emotional reaction from you, not necessarily sad ones. What's the most emotionally intense movie you've ever seen? What made you so invested in it? Comment below and tell me why!

John Tucker Must Die Movie Review

Even as a teenager, I don’t remember enjoying teen movies all that much. They tend to be very formulaic, have the same cast of characters, and more or less similar stories. I don’t even remember what made me think John Tucker Must Die (2006) would be different, or even good. The only off the wall thing they did was have the happy fat friend and the token black guy end up being the same character. Genius!

Kate (Brittany Snow) is the new girl in school yet again. She quickly learns about John Tucker (Jesse Metcalfe), the insanely attractive, highly popular captain of the basketball team. Kate catches John Tucker dating three different girls at once: Carrie (Arielle Kebbel), the smart girl; Heather (Ashanti), the head cheerleader; and Beth (Sophia Bush), the vegan activist. None of them are aware that they are not the only girl in John’s heart. Kate was raised by a single mother and has never seen a functional relationship. She has seen the pain caused by playboys like John Tucker, and she won’t stand idly by. Together with the three girlfriends, they hatch a plan to teach John a lesson. Of course, things rarely go as planned, especially when Kate starts to think she might be falling for John herself.

Just based on the description there, you can probably figure out the entire story this movie has to offer. It wasn’t all that innovative a movie. It didn’t even present the same old thing in a new or interesting way. There are still social cliques and cheerleaders, there are still horny teenage boys bent on losing their virginity, social outcasts who fall in love with the jock, and the token black guy who stays out of every conversation, smiles, and interjects with colloquialisms that perpetuate racial stereotypes.

I have to admit, I did find a few parts of the movie funny. It is intended to be a comedy, after all. One of the funnier scenes early on is when the girls switch out John Tucker’s muscle building supplements with estrogen supplements. This causes the manly basketball team captain to have an emotional breakdown and start crying when the coach is barking orders during a big game. This was funny in spite of perpetuating gender roles and stereotyping. And just like all the other stunts the girls try to pull off, it backfires by having girls flocking to John Tucker because he’s a man that can show his sensitive side. Most of the humor is like this; pretty shallow, unbelievable, and gives an unrealistic view of human behavior. I can forgive it because it’s supposed to be a comedy, but it is still hard to accept scenarios like these. You might chuckle a few times if at all.

Lame as the story and script is, I have to give respect to the actors. Their performance seemed loose and relaxed. When they are trying to act casual, they actually appear to act casual. They don’t have a forced presentation, nor were they yelling their lines into the camera so they can be heard over all the chatter and texting the teenage audience will inevitably be participating in during the movie.

Brittany Snow also played Amber Von Tussle in the 2007 Hairspray movie. She looks really pretty in both Hairspray and John Tucker Must Die. I don’t understand why pretty and attractive people are frequently cast as the socially awkward and outcast roles. Inevitably they will have this profound moment of awakening and transform themselves from being nerdy and un-cool to being confident, attractive, and on top of the social scene. Newsflash to any high-school-aged readers; THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN IN REAL LIFE! Sorry you had to learn that this way, but these stupid teen movies really give us an unrealistic view of high school and of life. At any rate, pretty and attractive as Brittany Snow is as Kate, I have a hard time imagining her ever being unaccepted or being in need of a date.

John Tucker Must Die is a classic example of a light-hearted teen movie, but it wasn’t really a terrible teen movie. It’s not as mean as Mean Girls, not as crude or raunchy as American Pie, and not as cheesy as something like A Walk to Remember. I had a few chuckles and the acting was a bit better than most teen movies. I suppose it’s a subpar movie, but an above average teen movie. If you have graduated from high school long enough to have experience in the real world, you’ll find the unrealistic depiction of high school to be quaint and silly. You might find something to laugh at if you’ve ever had a two-timing relationship partner. I wouldn’t recommend going out of your way to see this unless you really like silly teen movies.

What’s your favorite teen/high school movie? Am I missing out on any good ones? Comment below and tell me all about it!

A Walk to Remember Movie Review

In general, I don’t care for romance movies. It’s not that I’m a guy and prefer explosions in action movies, but rather because so many romance movies are painfully formulaic and predictable. Of course, I’ve come across some exceptions that I enjoyed. I liked Lake House, and No Reservations wasn’t too bad. But while A Walk to Remember (2002) has some positive qualities to it, it was so predictable and standardized that it was difficult to take very seriously.

Set in a lovely coastal North Carolina port. Cocky, popular high school senior Landon Carter (Shane West) is the big man on campus until a hazing incident leaves a fellow student hospitalized. Landon is sentenced to community service and membership in schools drama club. He is forced to seek help from Jamie Sullivan (Mandy Moore), the conservative, religious, plain-Jane daughter of the town’s Baptist minister (Peter Coyote). In spite of their divergent social status, the two inevitably fall in love. Landon struggles with the drop in popularity that this love interest brings while Jamie is forced to deal with her strict father and a secret that she’s keeping from her schoolmates.

There really are some good qualities to this movie. One of the things that stands out to me so much is the actual love interest between the two main characters. There isn’t an overt sexual interest that stems from checking out or groping one another’s bodies. In fact, this is a very modest, innocent, and sweet love story that seems devoid of sexual tension. I imagine that conservatives would enjoy A Walk to Remember since it depicts romance in a way that is often overshadowed by sexualized “reality television” and movies that objectify women as sex objects.

A Walk to Remember is based on a Nicholas Sparks novel. Sparks writes a lot of what he refers to as “love stories,” which are different from “romance stories” according to him. In a USA Today interview, he essentially criticizes bland, mainstream romance authors such as William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, and Ernest Hemingway, while claiming that he does something wholly unique and unpredictable. I’m not sure how he came to that conclusion since he only seems to tell one story in each of his novels that he cranks out on an annual basis. There is a great Cracked.com article that describes this irony in more detail, but watch out for spoilers.

Like most teen movies, the adults in A Walk to Remember did seem to be in place to prevent the teenagers from attaining their goals and ruining their fun. But on the other hand, the adults generally had a reason for it. Jamie’s father, for example, is concerned about Landon’s budding relationship with Jamie as any father would. This is in part because he is worried about Landon’s reputation and Jamie’s safety, but also to prevent any potential broken-hearted feelings that Jamie’s secret would probably invoke. I also liked how after Landon learns some humility through his relationship with Jamie, he finds himself needing advice and help from the grownups in his life and has to reconcile with his father who left him and his mother for another woman. That made his character more deep and meaningful; he’s still a stereotypical romance story hero, but that’s a genuinely unforeseen bit of character development for such a clichéd teen movie.

The script in A Walk to Remember was encumbered with superbly cheesy lines and situations that serve no purpose other than to jerk tears. For some reason Landon takes an interest in memorizing his lines for the drama club’s play, and wouldn’t you know it, the lines that we hear from the play have overt implications to the main plot. I don’t think anyone’s done that before, except perhaps every movie that has ever featured a play in it. Anyway, Landon awkwardly asks Jamie for help with his lines. She agrees and says, “You have to promise you won't fall in love with me.” Seriously, who says that kind of thing to someone who has been mean and rude? The dialogue is so sickly sweet and syrupy I felt like I needed to brush my teeth after watching the movie. On top of that it was so blatantly predictable that I accurately quoted lines several times before they were spoken, having never seen the movie before.

A Walk to Remember was sweet, sincere, and positive. It’s also bland, syrupy, and an overwrought, weepy teen love story. For viewers who enjoy romantic movies this will be a compassionate tearjerker about hope and inspiration. For most anyone else it’s a tedious melodrama that gives the unrealistic impression that 17-year-old boys aren’t just after one thing. It’s not groundbreaking cinema by any means. It’s highly conservative and grows increasingly sentimental as it goes on, but shows us some good examples of those qualities. Was A Walk to Remember good? Yeah, it was alright, I guess. Did I like it? No. But even I felt vaguely caught up in the love between Jamie and Landon as they slowly danced under the star filled sky.

What is your favorite romance movie? Comment below and tell me why!