Review of The Fault in Our Stars (2014) by Guillermobm — 07 Mar 2015

The Fault in Our Stars compensates for its flaws with Shailene Woodley's performance and tear-jerking moments. 63/100 [C+].

The Fault in Our Stars is a pretty passable and forgettable film. That's why I give it a 6/10. It's far from being a bad film, but it wasn't very special either. I read the amazing book few days before watching the film, and I have to say that the book was breathtaking and deeply emotional. It is filled with lots of funny moments and also, painfully sad moments. The last chapters made me feel so many emotions at once. Then appears this mediocre and sometimes heartless adaptation. It was so disappointing because it does not reach that emotional impact from the book. The movie feels so rushed (even with its 126 minutes of running time).

It was so straight to the point, there was not enough character development. My major issue with this film is that each scene feels so mediocre and emotionally empty. Also, when it tries to be funny ends up being awkwardly humorless. Another problem is the lazy screenplay, the writer changed a huge part of the original script and some of the scenes were so badly scripted and awfully directed. I mean, the actions and the way that this talented actors interacted between each other in dramatic scenes were not similar to the book at all. What a shame because the book took more risks. It was braver.

Another problem is that there were not enough characters. A lot of important characters from the book were not in the film. Come on, the director had enough running time to put them in, but he didn't. Also, I didn't feel that connection between Hazel, Gus, and that book called "An Imperial Affliction". You don't know anything about this book that they love, they just barely talked about it throughout the film and there were not enough conversations about this beloved book in the film. But I'm happy that there were some decent moments here. All the scenes in Amsterdam were beautifully shot and very similar to the book in all the right ways. It was definitely the best part of the movie.

All those moments in Amsterdam were very enjoyable and beautiful because there was a lot of chemistry between these two main characters. Shailene Woodley was terrific, she was born to play this role. It's sad that this director went for the easy way and didn't put lots of important and crucial moments from the book in the film. The DVD version has some extra minutes, but it's just not enough. Overall, The Fault in Our Stars is a mediocre and empty film compared to the book, but it definitely has its moments and the performances were terrific. Sorry if I mentioned the word "book" so many times in this review, but I can't stop comparing them.