The Fault in Our Writing

Romance movies generally put me off. I am a romantic, but the typical romance film amounts to nothing more than a chick flick. When I heard about The Fault in Our Stars, cynicism throughly convinced me this movie would be absolutely awful. The title alone encouraged me to claw my eyeballs out and do something manly like bear wrestling. It looked interesting enough to see and hilarity, which had nothing to do with the movie, ensued. This genuine romance surprised me, another instance of my low expectations being demolished.

IMDB
Rotten Tomatoes
genres: teen romance, drama, tragedy
Concept:

Disclaimer: I have not read the book, but I assume it to be better than the movie on general principle. A love story about cancer patients brings a whole new meaning to the phrase, “heavy handed.” Despite the excellent romance that unfolds, emotional manipulation kept getting in the way. This movie was so desperate to see my sadness that I resisted the entire time. The romance between Hazel and Augustus was held hostage. It’s the writers said, “See this touching romance? Be sad that both of them have cancer and prepare to be emotionally destroyed when one of them dies.” *malicious laugh*. I get a similar feeling when reading the Song of Ice and Fire series, waiting to see which character dies next. A far more interesting concept would be seeing Hazel or Augustus dealing with the death of the other. Flashbacks could show romance and tell a great story of a young person, with cancer, overcoming a tragedy. Some might argue the end of the Fault in Our Stars fulfilled my previous statement, but it was weak at best. Besides the cancer, this concept could slotted into any number of generic teen romance movies.

  Characters:

Hazel (Shailene Woodley) is our perspective giving character, events center around her. Despite residing in a generic romantic heroine archetype, Hazel displays significant agency. Her pessimistic attitude refreshed me due to it’s realism. Cancer is hard in the twilight of one’s years and even worse at sixteen. Hazel’s reluctance to emotionally connect with anyone makes a great deal of sense. Why get close when you could die tomorrow? Yet, she is not an ice queen. Seeing changes as her relationship with Augustus progresses was huge boon for this film.

Augustus (Ansel Elgort), the man who opens Hazel’s heart. Unlike his lover, Augustus is harder to enjoy on screen and not for the obvious reasons. Compared to Hazel, Gus seems less natural and synthetic. His cigarette metaphor is idiotic and unoriginal. Even if the metaphor shows Gus as an eccentric cancer survivor, there are a plethora of other methods to achieve that goal without stupidity. Gus falls further than Hazel into romantic archetypes and doesn’t break free. Only dying brings Gus to Hazel’s level. Despite his humor and charm, Gus still fears death and seeks to leave his mark on the world. That’s real character revelation that stems from reality.

Isaac (Nat Wolff) is Augustus’ best friend and third wheel for all of the film. Granted he gets a small amount of screen time, but he’s always the single guy. Some amusing scenes occur with Isaac and his role does expand as the movie progresses.

Van Houten (William Dafoe) is the author of An Imperial Affliction. The book mirrors Hazel’s situation. Both Hazel and Gus seek to know the meaning behind the ending of the novel. As a writer, this character made me laugh. A prolific author turned recluse who has no social skills at all and is a giant ass-hole to boot. While the scene involving Van Houten is powerful, his character felt a little pointless.

Frannie (Laura Dern) and Micheal (Sam Trammell) are Hazel’s parents. Like Van Houten and Gus’ parents, I struggle to place these folks as characters. Frannie has more screen time than Micheal, but they’re just overprotective parents who seek to make Hazel as happy as possible. Every time Laura was on screen, I was expecting a velociraptor to bust through a window or unlock a door.
Story:

I won’t worry about spoilers because most folks that see this movie have read the book. The events that unfold follow logical progression and don’t seem unrealistic. Seeing Hazel’s relationship with Gus flourish and evolve is the best aspect of the film. Sprinkled throughout the story are some emotionally powerful moments. I saw struggle, pain, sadness, happiness, fear and contentedness all in one movie which is fairly impressive. Sadly, my narrative praise stops here. Problems: If one couldn’t foresee someone dying in this film then that individual lives under a rock. Based on a book means nothing if the narrative is predictable. This is by far The Fault in Our Star’s greatest flaw. I saw Augustus’ death coming before the movie started because one of them had to die. Hazel’s death would have been too easy, a five year old could predict that. Why is this a problem? People will rate the effectiveness of the film by how many people are profusely weeping at the end. I don’t think that’s a good marker of quality. Narratively, death is the easy escape. A story about two cancer patients falling in lover and dealing with the consequences of their illnesses could be a heavy-handed, but fascinating story. More complexity is required if neither person dies; a more original climax must be conceived.

That is the genesis of my suggestion in the ‘concept’ section. I was interested in their romance, not their cancer. Augustus’ death shifts focus back to the illness, the least engaging part of the narrative. Cancer gave Hazel and Augustus the foundational connection they needed to fall in love, but the situation lacks the emotional struggle that follows ‘loving’ someone. I would have preferred one of the pair to suffer cancer, not both. A new, unique situation would be conceived allowing a better romance to emerge. If tragedy is the goal, place the narrative after Augustus’ death. The film didn’t have enough time to illustrate Hazel’s grieving process or Augustus coming to terms with his eventual death.

Another flaw on Gus’ character stems from the maguffin. His actions move the plot forward and try so hard to please Hazel no matter what the cost. He spends his wish (from the Make-A-Wish Foundation) to go on a trip with her because she wanted to meet the author. This aspect of his character would be endearing if it didn’t feel fake and pandering. A couple scenes bordered on offense. Making out in the attic of Anne Frank’s house is rude to say the least. I’ve heard many stories about majorities of movie watchers crying, but I guess my heart of stone remains unchanged.
Score: 7/10

What I do on the Weekends

Regardless of my long complaint about the narrative, The Fault in Our Stars does impress me. It could have been significantly worse. The acting was superb and casting equally so. I recommend taking a date to this movie. Not the best romance of this year, but it can stand proud. A special thanks my friends and a few strangers (David, Stephen, Scott, Sam and Cierra) that made the theater experience unforgettable, never have I laughed so hard.

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