The Fault In Our Stars opens with Hazel (Shailene Woodley, who will be every bit as successful and respected as Natalie Portman if she manages her career well), her ever-present oxygen tubes inserted into her nostrils, telling the viewer that happy endings are unlikely.
What a downer.
Except that it’s not, because Hazel, for all her understandable concerns about her future and the complications she endures as a cancer sufferer, is a profoundly beautiful young woman, in the complex full-package sense. That’s not evident to everyone – arriving with an oxygen tank in tow is not a great ice-breaker – but Gus (Ansel Elgort) is, despite his goofily charming exterior, a perceptive, intelligent young man who has his own battles to fight.
This is a great film, as effective as The Notebook at pulling heartstrings but with far more depth and pathos. Director Josh Boone must be commended for ensuring that the unscripted aspects of the story were handled with enough sensitivity to feel completely natural –not a simple task. In particular, the mood in Hazel’s home – cautious, brittle optimism, with measures in place to respond to an emergency the moment it occurs – is heartbreakingly real.
Pitched against huge blockbusters and A-list star power, this wonderful piece might slip by unnoticed. That’d be a terrible waste: it’s one of the best films of the year so far.
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