Two cancer stricken teenagers meet and fall in love. They share similar interests, ways of thinking, and unfortunately sickness. The disease of cancer has plagued their normal lives for years and the possibility of succumbing to the disease looms closer each and every day. As their relationship deepens and grows so does the inevitable result of cancer. In the face of mortality their love, courage, and views of life will be tested to the max.
Who's Involved:
"The Fault in Our Stars" is a production of Temple Hill Entertainment, Written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, Directed by Josh Boone, and Starring: Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Nat Wolff, Laura Dern, and Willem Dafoe.
Austin's Take:
"That's the thing about pain, it demands to be felt." - Augustus, "The Fault In Our Stars"
The Fault In Our Stars is about pain, the misery of cancer, and the devastating effect it can have on our view of life. "Fault" begins with Hazel (Shailene Woodley) who is an on going survivor of type 4 thyroid cancer. The cancer causes fluids to drain into her lungs and therefore she's dependent on an oxygen tank to breathe. While the thought of looking pretty and being attractive has slowly vacated her mind, she slowly settles into a cycle of living with the cancer, essentially waiting to die. One day she bumps into another cancer survivor named Augustus (Ansel Elgort). Augustus is the polar opposite of her. He's witty, boisterous, and has the ability to find the humorous side of life. He's immediately attracted to Hazel and without blinking they begin a friendship that slowly deepens into a strong romantic bond. Amidst the hardships for both of them, everything begins to look up, except for the cancer. Cancer has a way of interjecting itself into life suddenly and without warning. We can fight cancer, take precautions to limit the risk of the disease, and even manage some of the symptoms. Yet we still don't fully understand it and have been unable to create a cure thus far. For years people have questioned, why does the universe allow this to happen? If there is a God, why does he enable cancer to form? Why does it happen to people, especially to those we love? The idea of the film is about the characters asking the same questions, each in their own way. Some question the reasons for having to deal with the disease, others try to ignore it, and some have simply accepted the fact that cancer may inevitably lay them to rest. All these questions point to the obvious fact of how this movie is going to end. The content is excruciatingly sad and will wrench your heart out, yet the story seems unoriginal, lacking any vigor of it's own. The characters of Hazel and Augustus were strong and brought a unique approach to this type of script. Unfortunately they seemed more solid than the choppy story and their wonderful personalities could not save it alone. Also, mixed in are several out of place plot twists including a trip to Amsterdam in search of the author Peter Van Houten (Willem Dafoe). Van Houten is an indignant writer who is still reeling from the death of his own daughter to cancer. His purpose to the film is rather confusing, making little sense to the concept, and throwing the pacing off completely. Not in any way do I want to undermine cancer or those who have or are experiencing it. "Faults" brightest moments came when it boldly dealt head on with the heavy material the characters faced, including a marginal amount of focus given to the treatments and the realism of the disease. Shailene Woodley was magnificent in personifying a skeptical cancer patient and Ansel Elgort's charm easily matched her on screen. So why doesn't this picture fully work? The issue of cancer as a main center point for a love story has been done in a very limited way (see "A Walk To Remember"). Here is where the film could have explored more into the disease and the effects it has on an individual. It started as such but slowly "Fault" slipped into the procession of a normal romantic movie, written from the lovers perspective of past films. It did give another shot at exploring the emotions through the confusing Van Houten segment but could not redeem the story and only set itself up for a shaky ending. Not much directing seemed to be involved either, as director Josh Boone apparently took a hands off approach to everything but acting. If your looking to let the tears flow or sink a little deeper into the emotion of pain, "The Fault In Our Stars" will fit your taste. Sadly the story itself lays somewhat barren on the idea that if these feelings are pulled from you, it's completed the job. Setting itself apart was there for the taking, but in the end, this film continuously teetered on being destructive, just like the disease.
Filmmaking Report-Card:
Directing: 5/10
Editing: 6/10
Cinematography: 5/10
Acting: 7.5/10
Screenplay: 6/10
Over-All Experience: 6/10
The Final Say:
The Fault In Our Stars is quite the saddening experience. Between the misguided script and directorial mishaps, the story serves as a cold reminder of the reality of cancer and the devastation it has caused for millions of lives. The only fault being is which one depresses more. The characters will captivate your heart as you journey along with them through their pain but ultimately the story falls complacent to unoriginality.
Final Score: 6/10
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