Review: The Fault in Our Stars
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
[Grade: B] It's a heavy depression session the second it starts, but the lightness of the happier times will help reduce eye swelling.
[City Paper grade: B]
Like raw onions, the TV show Parenthood or your mean aunt’s predilection for pinching your arm fat, The Fault In Our Stars is not just likely to make you cry — those tears are backed by science. Yet what separates the YA cancer romance from other weepfests is not the depth of the melancholic lows, but the personal, palpable highs ballasting the other side of the scale. Adapted from John Green’s bestseller by The Spectacular Now writer Scott Neustadter, it’s a heavy depression session the second it starts, but the lightness of the happier times will help reduce eye swelling. Smart, cynical Hazel (Shailene Woodley), strapped to an oxygen tank 24/7 ever since thyroid cancer spread to her lungs, is encouraged to attend a support group by her upbeat parents (Sam Trammell and Laura Dern). Here she meets the equally literate Augustus (Ansel Elgort), a former athlete who lost his leg to osteosarcoma, and the pair embarks upon the borderline-obsessive brand of teenage love affair anyone who’s been a teenager is familiar with. Though the spectre of death darkens the relationship, Hazel and Gus work to make it a secondary concern throughout their courtship, a plan of action aided by Neustadter’s skill with smart-alecky back-and-forth. When their characters are finally forced to spar with eventuality, Woodley and Elgort offer some of their strongest, saddest work. If it feels like they’re trying exceptionally hard to bandsaw your most fragile emotions, they are. Don’t feel bad for feeling worse — this is what they trained for.
