Review of Paper Towns (2015) by Tia R — 08 Nov 2015

Paper Towns.

When I was a senior in high school my English class read John Green's Looking for Alaska. I really enjoyed it and I wanted to learn more about Green's other works. I saw Paper Towns at a book store earlier this year and decided to get it because the movie was coming out. I also happened to be interested in how it stacks up to Alaska. I'm my opinion, granted, it's been a few years since I've read Alaska, I related to Paper Towns more than I did with Looking for Alaska, mainly with the main character Quentin and his quest to find the enigma that is girl of his dreams. I watched the movie, knowing very well that I probably wasn't going to like it as much as the book, and I ended up enjoying it very much.

Paper Towns is the story of Quentin "Q" Jacobson, an outcast kid who lives next door to the legendary Margo Roth Spiegleman. The two of them have been friends since they were kids but Quentin has always wanted more. Over the years, the two of them have grown apart. Now it's one month until graduation and Q has finally begun to accept that he's chasing a lost cause. Then one night, Margo climbs up to Quentin's window and invites him on a night of revenge pranking against her former friends. Quentin gladly tags along and the two of them have the night of their lives. The next morning however, Margo goes missing. This isn't the first time Margo has vanished and everyone knows it's just a ploy for attention. But Quentin believes there's more to it than that. Every time Margo disappears she leaves behind clues alluding to where she may be. The rest of the movie consists of a scavenger hunt for the clues that may or may not lead Quentin and his friends to Margo.

The movie was adapted very well in my opinion. There were a few things I wish they had kept, particularly towards the end, but after thinking about it, the message is still conveyed even without a lot of the book's elements. It does feel condensed at times but that's only because they cut out a lot of the middle, which consists of most of the scavenger hunt to finding Margo, and is honestly the second or third most interesting thing in the book.

While we're on that subject, one of the minor problems I had with the book was actually the thing that motivated the characters for a big portion of it. For a good majority of the movie and book, Margo is in hiding.

Margo Roth Spiegleman is one of the most interesting characters I've read in a book in recent memory. She's definitely the kind of girl that I would obsess over; the mysterious, adventurous, girl-next-door type. Her absence from the story does give both the book and movie a sense of urgency as to wanting to know where she is as soon as possible. But I could watch an entire tv series based on this character and I'd still want to know more about her. Quentin is an interesting character because he's so relatable but it's Margo who really steals the show, even when she's not present. The movie does try to fix this by putting her in a few flashbacks and a dream sequence, but otherwise, she's absent for a good hour of the movie.

They couldn't have done a better job at casting this movie. All the young actors are excellent, particularly Nat Wolf and Cara Delevingne as Q and Margo. And of those two, particularly Cara Delevingne as Margo. This woman is a revelation who masterfully captures the character's spiritedness and air of mystery. I only wish I could have seen more of her. Nat Wolf is equally brilliant as Quentin and very relatable. The rest of the cast consists of mostly unknowns who do a great job at capturing their individual book-based characters.

One thing I feel fans of the book will be most conflicted about is the ending. As far as adaptations go, Paper Towns is pretty faithful to the source material, save for a few elements in the middle and beginning. The ending will definitely divide people. A lot of the events and motivations happen differently. But what matters is that it still ends on the same note that the book finished off on. Fans will still feel the same way with the movie that they felt after reading the book and maybe even more so. And I'll just leave it at that.

Paper Towns is a good adaptation that captures the humor and emotions that the book covered very well. And for those who haven't read it, it's still a good nostalgia trip back to young adulthood along the lines of Stand By Me. Read the book first if you can, but definitely see Paper Towns.

**** out of 5.