4.9/5
The film adaptation of John Green's The Fault In Our Stars is an extraordinarily faithful adaptation. Having read the book just months prior to seeing the movie, I am impressed by how much the characters and actions on screen matched my own vision for them. It delivers all the melodramatic heartbreak and sentimental tearjerking you would expect from a book about two kids with cancer who fall in love. Neither Hazel (Woodley) nor Gus (Elgort) look particularly Hollywood-attractive, but their on-screen chemistry is undeniable. However, despite how perfect they are for each other, fate conspires to pull them apart. The story is more than a little bit emotionally manipulative, but it is tragically sweet and hits all the right notes. Everything just feels so ... lovely and tender.
While overly sensational and extravagantly "young adult," the story is attempting at something more than simply pulling at the heartstrings of America's youth. It touches on a multitude of topics, but the most impenetrable one to me revolves around literature, the creation of stories, and the way we project our own qualities on others. Willem Dafoe plays Van Houten, the author of Hazel's favorite book. His contribution to the story is both confusing and infuriating, but his unclear motivations and his abrupt exit are some of the most profound aspects to the story. His presence is both unusual and unsettling and makes me like the movie all that much more.
This movie is not for everyone--in fact, it may feel a bit childish or immature to some--but for those who fall under its spell, it is spectacular.
IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2582846/