the fault in our stars movie review for parents

Aside from cancer, Hazel and Gus are smart, well adjusted teens without a host of personal or emotional problems.

It was nice to see two teenaged characters without the same hackneyed problems and attitudes that we often get in teen movies. There is something else I found refreshing about “The Fault in Our Stars”. Instead it actually presents us with situations and a relationship that feels genuine yet uncertain because of the dark cloud hanging over it. She does show hesitation, but thankfully the film doesn’t wander down that overused and familiar path. She needs his honesty, his positivity, and of course his love. He lost part of his leg to bone cancer, but it doesn’t seem to dampen his spirits. At first he reminded me of a stalker, but he soon wins Hazel over with his charming personality and his pearly white smile which the camera captures over and over and over….ĭespite being a bit corny, Gus is a good, earnest guy. As fate would have it, she meets a hunky fellow named Gus Waters (Ansel Elgort). She encourages Hazel to join a support group.

In fact in an early scene Hazel’s mother is convinced her daughter is depressed. They are stable and loving parents, something rarely depicted in Hollywood these days. Her parents are played by Laura Dern and Sam Trammell and they are a breath of fresh air. This is her life and we are given just enough exposition to ground us and prepare us for this story. She can’t walk long without shortness of breath and we never see her without her oxygen. We quickly sense her day-to-day struggles. All of the cards are put on the table at the very beginning. There is no build up towards the severity of her illness. Her illness started in her thyroid at an early age and she has fought it since. Shailene Woodley plays Hazel Grace Lancaster, a smart and witty teenager who happens to have stage four lung cancer.

Thankfully “The Fault in Our Stars” tells a better story and features a compelling lead performance. But we all know that a hefty box office take doesn’t always signify a quality movie. Well this film turned out to be a huge success raking in over $300 million at the box office. Sure it’s based on a novel loved by millions, but countless times Hollywood has shown its ineptitude in realizing these kinds of stories on screen. It’s a shame that the modern movie culture in Hollywood automatically causes me to be leery of films like “The Fault in Our Stars”.

The fault in our stars movie review for parents