I can’t even count how many horrible book to movie adaptations I’ve seen. When a book fanatic goes to an move adaptation of she loves, she can’t help but cringe in concern before even viewing it. We want to be positive, to buy into the hype, to scream and dress up like all the other naive people, but we can’t. We’re naturally judgmental and to be perfectly frank, sadistic. That’s the only reason why we would torture ourselves by watching these movies. As good as an adaptation is, it’s almost never how we imagine it. What’s better than our imagination? Of the franchises I’m truly obsessed with, there have been less than 10 adaptations that I will say have lived up to the book, maybe even surpassed, but let’s not get to crazy now. Yet last night, as I sat in a theater full of sobbing people of all ages (mainly girls though, no offense boys, cry away, there’s no judgement when we’re blinded by tears) I realized I was going to be adding to that number of movies.
If you haven’t read The Fault In Our Stars, go to a bookstore, go on Amazon, or download it onto your Kindle/Nook/IPad WHATEVER, right now! I’m not kidding you. Don’t be fooled by it’s Young Adult stereotype, it’s only given that because it’s an easy read. But don’t ever mistake Young Adult books for being childish because this novel, in fact almost all John Green novels, is anything but. It’s a fresh take on love, disease, and the outlook on life in general. The wisdom of these character’s surpasses their ages due to their circumstances. Cancer will definitely do that to you. If you don’t read the book you’re honestly not going to be able to appreciate the movie to it’s extent. You never will with adaptations. I don’t care how good a movie is, if you don’t know all the facts you can’t possibly understand the depth behind it all. This novel is a good example because it’s hard to capture the complexities of the emotions felt by these characters in a movie, though it was as good of a job as any.
Now I’m actually going to talk about the movie, spoilers below…you’ve been warned.
As you hopefully already know the movie is about Hazel Grace (Shailene Woodley) a 16-year-old cancer stricken teen who doesn’t really have much on her plate aside from her doting parents, reality TV, and re-reading for the millionth time her favorite (albeit made-up…sorry folks, I wish it was real) book “An Imperial Affliction”. That is until her parents force her to go to group where she meets the charismatic, confident, and absolutely adorable Augustus Waters (Ansel Elgort). It’s sort of love at first sight, well…at least for him. Hazel is unused to the attention and is wary of his sudden affection for her. She sees how much caring for her takes its toll on her parents lives and she doesn’t wish that on Augustus (who is in remission from his osteosarcoma after losing his right leg). She tells him she’s “a grenade” whose death is inevitable. This doesn’t stop him and despite her tries, they fall into a deep love.
The tears kept coming during this movie. I do happen to be an overly sentimental gal and I cry at pretty much everything. It honestly started because of how spot on the casting was. I had an idea from the vlogs and interviews of the cast, but you just have no clue until they’re on the screen. Shailene as Hazel was nothing short of brilliant. She captured her witty, blunt, and realistic nature, but was also relatable and so lovely. If you ever have a doubt in her talent (and don’t lie we all did…c’mon what the shit as Secret Life anyway…) and if The Descendants didn’t already prove you wrong, this sure will. And Ansel is as much her equal in every way, though I’m biased because Gus is such a fantastic character if he even came close to doing him justice I was going to fall in love, and he by far did. The boy had him down to his swagger, mischievous glint, and infectious nature. I adored him from the moment he was on screen. Truly flawless. If you want an idea of just how flawless, check out this video clip.
Stand out moments for me was their stare-battle in the beginning of the movie. So precious and handled very well. All of their moments in Amsterdam which were as adorable as they were torturous due to the impending knowledge of Gus’s cancer confession. Nat Wolff’s portrayal of Issac was also absolutely fantastic. Issac, Gus’s soon to be/later on is blind friend, is one of my favorite characters. He’s a nice foil to Gus being madly in love for superficial reasons and then losing it as Gus gains the real thing, but Issac’s love for Gus matches Hazel’s and it’s shown beautifully in this movie. He adds to the sadness when he cries giving his speech at Gus’s pre-funeral saying “I don’t want to see a world without Augustus Waters” and he also adds some comedic moments like when he breaks Gus’s trophies or they throw eggs at his bitch of an ex-girlfriend’s car.
I could truly gush about this movie forever because it was so faithful to the book. There were omissions, as always, but honestly they weren’t missed. All it did was cut extraneous dialogue and unnecessary characters that distracted from the main focus, so it didn’t bother me a bit. Truly it was a dream adaptation. I can’t even count the amount of times I gasped at how a scene was exactly how I pictured it or happy-cried due to the amazingly believable performances from these actors. I even forgot how funny it could be or how much of a douche Peter Van Houten (William Defoe), the author of Hazel’s favorite book, was to them. But down to their endearing sex scene and Gus’s heart-wrenching pre-funeral, it was sheer perfection.
I’d be truly shocked anyone who views this movie doesn’t squeak out at least one tear while watching it. I don’t think I’ve sobbed that hard at a movie since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, and that’s saying something. As stated before, I could talk about this movie forever, but now all I can do is leave it for all to view and hopefully love as much as I do. If you don’t, no issue, to each his own, but it’ll be going up there with the few cherished adaptations and held dearly in my heart. I can’t wait to recover so I can see it again and sob some more.
“Pain demands to be felt” is a quote from “An Imperial Affliction” and as true of a summary to this novel as anything. As harsh as it may be, this story would not be what it is without the tragic ending so we all can understand and learn. I recommend to all ages and genders to watch this movie because it’s brilliant, though don’t expect to leave this movie dry-eyed. It’s sad, but it’s worth every tear. Go see it ASAP, but dear god, do NOT forget copious amounts of tissues, trust me…you’re going to need it.
Rachel's Reviews 