Movie vs. Book
Book. You get more insight on what's going through Hazel's mind. Plus, it's nice not having to worry that others are going to hear you cry if you're enjoying the book in the comforts of your own home.
Soundtrack/Score
Not super memorable in the movie, but going back and listening to it now, it's not bad.
Favorite Scene (Semi-Spoiler)
Augustus' first plane ride.
Audience Reactions while Watching the Movie
Augustus and Isaac will make you laugh, and of course there will be an extreme amount of crying.
Bet the city of Indianapolis is wishing they'd worked a little harder to accommodate Josh Boone and his crew while they were filming The Fault in Our Stars. Theaters all across Indiana (as well as the rest of the United States) were filled this weekend with sobbing young adults as this tragic love story went from page to screen in the movie adaption of local author John Green's award winning novel.
The movie sticks pretty close to the storyline of the book, making only a few (and in most cases, appropriate) changes and cuts to the cancer-hindering-love-life of Hazel Grace Lancaster (Shailene Woodley) and Augustus Waters (Ansel Elgort). The grabbing tale transitions smoothly to the big screen with the help of these two up-and-coming stars (both of whom were also in fellow Young Adult book-to-movie Divergent), especially Elgort's calm and cool portrayal of metaphor-loving, grand-gesture-doing, occasional goofball Augustus.
While the acting and plot are very good, more character development would have pushed this movie to great. As the story draws closer and closer to it's heart-wrenching finale, Hazel and Augustus seem to stay in their pre-climax selves (both mentally and physically). While it's unclear whether it was the acting, writing, or directing that forced Hazel and Augustus to finish their story in nearly the same emotional state that they started in, make-up and special effects could have been used more liberally to show us a change in their physical appearances.
As a whole though, this movie did an amazing job of giving viewers an insight into the very real lives that many children and young adults are experiencing. While embellishing those lives with beautiful dialogue and perhaps less-than-realistic methods of courting, this movie shows that even through hardships you can find happiness. Though I wouldn't go out of my way to see this movie again on my own, I would happily re-watch it if some of my friends asked me to. I highly recommend that everyone see it at least once, and since this story is supposed to take place in Indianapolis, Hoosier's are especially encouraged to watch it. Okay? Okay.
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What did you think of the movie? Comment below!
Here's a review by Connie Ogle of "the Miami Herald" praising the movie
ReplyDeletehttp://www.miami.com/039the-fault-our-stars039-pg-13-article
And here's an opposing viewpoint from Dana Stevens, critic for "Slate"
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/movies/2014/06/the_fault_in_our_stars_starring_shailene_woodley_reviewed.html
And just for the fun of it, here's a bunch of teenager's reaction to "The Fault in Our Stars" trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjMqMLZIt30
Okay!
ReplyDeleteThe biggest problem I had with this film was the casting of Sam Trammell as the father. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE Sam and think he's a very good actor. He definitely looks the part of a Indiana papa. Unfortunately, if you are a hard core fan of HBO's True Blood like I am you have already seen pretty much everything there is to see of this handsome dog. Shapeshifter/bar owner/Sookie Stackhouse rescuer Sam has pretty much bared all over the seasons and every time he was on screen in this movie I couldn't help but have flashbacks of his cute little bare bum (you see, when he turns back into a human he's always at a loss for clothes so we get lots of butt shots!) This tends to be distracting during those highly emotional scenes. If Sam's trying to break onto the big screen, I really think he needs a little more distance from his True Blood character - maybe shave, get a haircut, wear a suit. Then maybe this dirty old lady could take him more seriously!
ReplyDeleteThanks, RIFFED Librarian--now I can never watch this movie again! Well, maybe I can and just skip over the parts with Sam Trammell. ;)
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