"Almost Juno" The Fault In Our Stars (Movie) Review
I’m sitting in the second to last row of the movie theater and the movie preview trailers have not yet started. One woman in her mid-ages, then another female teen of sixteen, then another, and I realize that I was the only male in the theater. This was a late showing, though a week after from the premiere.
The Fault In Our Stars is a romantic comedy that gears itself towards the general female members of our species. But, the movie nearly transgresses to a movie that can satisfy the viewing public to which I would say Juno was more successful at capturing. I am not saying that The Fault In Our Stars is any less of a powerful movie because the overall construction and execution in this movie is a bit stronger emotional affect than Juno. I found that the overall romance could dissuade male viewers from watching this movie, and they would be missing out on something phenomenal. Unlike Juno, which focuses on the problems of teen pregnancy, The Fault In Our Stars focuses on young, dying cancer patients. And the movie does not let the romance completely overwhelm emotional and philosophical wonderings of “people who are dying.” In fact, both the believable romance from the excellent acting and the philosophy play off of each other to make a movie that, well, nearly becomes Juno. However, as I have said before, there are times when the romance can be a bit overwhelming, such as the few texting moments coupled with some of the lovey-dovey moments, which can turn away the male viewership.
Another odd tactile decision is how the nature of the philosophy gets played out. I am going to say that this movie runs like a compilation of a bunch of Youtube videos or even chapters of a book put together. The movie is extremely segmented relying on the narration to move between or end scenes. Furthermore, after the philosophical meaning or the twist of a previous philosophical meaning is conveyed, the scene ends. The individual scenes can easily be a short film much like a Youtube video. The swing set scene and the dining scene particularly stand out as moments where it follows this segmented agenda. However, I did not particularly mind this segmentation as though it were a chapter of a book or a series of Youtube videos (hint hint John Green) as they all work well together and develop something different in the face of its own philosophy.
The Fault In Our Stars is a heartwarming story between two cancer patients that constantly remembers itself as a book (not to go to deep: Van Houten and John Green cameo). It strives and succeeds at describing the philosophical remunerations of people who are dying without having an overwhelming romance. But, the romance could make it less accessible for male viewers. Give it a chance and you might not regret it.
Trailer: The Fault In Our Stars