Let me begin by saying that I thoroughly loved this movie. It based on a book that it's written for me. It is a film designed for an audience that is anything, but me. I truly loved it and can really find no real flaws. I haven't read the novel so others might differ in opinion. I liked this movie for being more than just a love story. More than a story about cancer. More than a exercise in sadness. I love this movie for the overall message or at least the one that I took for it.
When the movie began, I couldn't help but think of myself in another place. It could explain the reason the film made me feel the way it did. When I am not pretending to write or be a blogger, my real job is radio. A job which led me to do some work for Children's Miracle Network. I couldn't help but think of a teenage girl named Makenzie. When I met her, she was laying in bed very sick. She had no hair and was the image of what dying looked like. I watched as an outsider what her and her family were going through. I suppose it
gave me a clearer understanding of the characters in The Fault In Our Stars. Makenzie's story has a much happier ending and she is doing great. Lets talk about this film.
Hazel Grace Lancaster (Shailene Woodley) is a teenager living with cancer who doesn't have much of a positive outlook on life. Her parents urge her to go to a support group where she meets Augustus Waters (Ansel Elgort) a fellow cancer survivor and amputee. They share a similar wit, love of a book, and fall in love. Together they take a journey that teaches them the value of life and spontaneity of death.
The film is full of colorful characters. They make jokes about there afflictions and attempt to deal with the hand they were dealt. It covers the struggle their parents endure daily. A struggle that I have seen closer than I ever thought I would. It tackles the unfairness of life and shows us the happiness found in simple things. Every generation seems to have a movie like this one. The 80's had Terms Of Endearment. The 90's gave us My Life, the 00's A Walk To Remember, and now The Fault In Our Stars.
This is a movie that has more of a message. The audience clapped at every kiss and cried at several moments. It is an emotional ride that reminds of us of a few things. Our heroes aren't always how we imagine, every one's life has it's own special meaning, and sometimes we fall short of the life we imagined for ourselves. All of these things are OK. Life is about being loved deeply and not widely. Maybe you are lucky enough to have both, but being loved at all is truly special. The things we take for granted are usually the special moments that life gives us. We all sometimes forget how little time we all actually have. It shouldn't take a death to remind us of that. Makenzie gave me a lesson in priorities and it's one that she probably didn't realize she was teaching. So again maybe I am seeing this one a little differently.
People who haven't read the book will not see the twist coming. People who read the novel seemed to truly love the movie. A life lesson and a good cry are needed once in awhile. It's no secret that I love a big summer action flick, but this is welcome decompression. I appreciate this film for everything that it is and everything else that it doesn't intend to be.
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