The Fault In Our Stars Movie Review

It is common knowledge that John Green, author of the New York Times bestselling novel, The Fault in Our Stars, was active and present in next to all aspects of the movie production of his novel.

Going into the movie, I prepared myself for it to ‘not be as good as the book,’ the typical response when a viewer has previously read the book before seeing the motion picture in theatres. However, knowing that John Green was a major part of the filming process, I was not surprised to find myself feeling uplifted, emotional, and inspired walking out of the theatre.

Tough critics of movies based on a certain novel often point out what the movie left out or depicted differently than the book, but although there were tiny details left out from the story, it did not in any way, in my opinion, ruin the story.

Every scene, as I watched, was exactly as I had read it and I would not be surprised if the movie script was the exact novel itself.  If I could say one thing, however, I suggest reading the book in general, and also before seeing the movie for a few reasons. The book gives the viewer insight to the actual thoughts Hazel Lancaster has during particular scenes that is not able to be transmitted in the movie version. It also makes the story more fluent and enjoyable being able to know who the characters are and look out for how they are portrayed in the movie, which I am sure will be hard to disappoint.

While the inner monologue which is present in the novel is something the movie might have lacked, it made up for it in the more humorous parts of the story.  At times, the entire audience was bursting with laughter as the film visually portrayed the funnier moments present in the novel in a new light as portrayed by the actors.

In fact, a major aspect of what attributed to the success of the movie is the actors themselves. I could not name one flawed or poorly cast actor for any role. They all resembled the people John Green described in his novel.  Shailene Woodley, who plays the character of Hazel Lancaster, was so eager to play the role that she had to wear sweatpants and her hair in a ponytail with no makeup in to attempt to snatch the role of 16-year-old Hazel while she, at the time of the auditions, was 21, according to an interview on Good Morning America. Her co-star, Ansel Elgort, I felt was also superbly cast. The chemistry between Woodley and Elgort was easy and seemed as real as it can get, which can be attributed to the stars’ former roles and familiarity with each other from the popular recent film, Divergent.

If I was even the slightest bit hesitant going into the movie, all of my worries were gone when the credits began to roll. This tear-jerking replica of John Green’s novel has now officially, and honestly, become my new favorite movie/book/story of all time and I do and will continue to encourage everyone to not only go see the movie while it is in theatres, but to also read the book as well.