Monday 16 June 2014

The Fault in Our Stars film review

The Fault in Our Stars (2014) Poster

Went to see this movie yesterday afternoon as an Insider preview and what a lovely film it was.

IMDB says: Hazel and Gus are two teenagers who share an acerbic wit, a disdain for the conventional, and a love that sweeps them on a journey. Their relationship is all the more miraculous given that Hazel's other constant companion is an oxygen tank, Gus jokes about his prosthetic leg, and they met and fell in love at a cancer support group.

Based on the best-selling book by author John Green, Director Josh Boone does well to bring to life a much-loved novel.  Shailene Woodley (Divergent, The Descendants) stars as Hazel Grace Lancaster, diagnosed with cancer at age 13 and Ansel Elgort (Carrie, Divergent) as Augustus Waters, who has lost part of his leg due to cancer and they meet at the support group where Gus is attending with his friend Isaac (Palo Alto, Stuck in Love) whose cancer has taken one eye and is about to take the other.  Laura Dern (Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart) plays Frannie Hazel's mother and Sam Trammell (Sam Merlotte from True Blood) her father. 

Brought closer together by a shared love of 'An Imperial Affliction' a fictional book written from the perspective of someone living with cancer by writer Van Houten (Willem Dafoe of Spiderman, The English Patient), Gus sets about proving that he doesn't care if there is the shadow of cancer between them, it is still worth falling in love.

Both leads are exceptional and Dafoe is brilliant in his role as damaged and brutal grieving father, and all of the actors drag you into the story so well, that you forget that this is not based on true events.  The film feels even more poignant with the tragic death of Stephen Sutton still in our hearts and minds and I urge you to bring a large pack of tissues with you to the movie.

Shailene was so keen to win the role that she wrote impassioned letters to Boone and insisted that her friend Ansel read both the script and the novel before meeting with Boone.  I am so glad that she did as I couldn't think of two young actors who would better handle the challenging roles.  Shailene and Ansel played brother and sister in the film Divergent, but there was definite chemistry between the two in this movie and though you can expect tears from the start, theirs is a very heart-warming love story.

Tagline: One sick love story.                                                                                      9/10

#TheFaultInOurStars  #ShaileneWoodley  #AnselElgort

No comments:

Post a Comment