Review of The Fault in Our Stars (2014) by Daniel T — 02 Jan 2015

Roger Ebert once said that Peter Jackson (LOTR, the Hobbit) paints in the corners of the giant screen. No this is not a Peter Jackson movie but the analogy of painting is appropo. This movie was a masterpiece. I was thinking OK another chick flick about a young girl and a guy. It was much, much more.

Shailene Woodley (Hazel) and Ansel Elgort (Gus) were the shining stars in this movie. I was blown away at the energy that Ansel brought to his character Gus. Very emotive high charismatic performance.

The scenes were all above average. The filming in Amsterdam were worthy of academy awards. I disagree with some reviewers on this movie. It was a great movie no matter what genre you want to put it in.

When Hazel and Gus walk up the ladder into the attic where Anne Franke hid from the Nazi's it brought to my mind so many Allegories of what life is truly about. Risking our own health to see such a historic place where one of the bravest girls that ever lived once slept in mortal fear. Then when Hazel gets there she is rewarded with the best gift you could ever get...

It brings to mind our lifes journey and the risks we take to climb to heights above righteousness to only be rewarded by eternal life from our father in heaven.

William DeFoe plays a recluse writer who both Hazel and Gus idolize. He is not exactly what they had hoped or expected. His character is anyone else we put on a pedastal. They dont seem the great person we imagine they are. We all have faults esp our stars.

Van Houten (DeFoe) reminds us that we all are living with some kind of emotional pain. Some more impactful than others, some emotional, some physical. Depending on our inner demons we choose to get counseling or drown the pain in alcohol. We can release those heavy buried feelings by representing through music or colors in our paintings. We cannot judge those that suffer and dont know which direction to reach for the real Stars in our lives who are usually right in front of us.

That is the real beauty of this movie is the evocation of such intense emotions and deep healing thouggts. I saw the movie over a month ago and waited til my sister saw it so I would not influence her feelings or thoughts.

I will never forget the brilliant performances or this great movie. I look forward to these two young fine actors in the future and props go to Josh Boone for directing what could have been a B movie and turning it into a masterpiece. I will pay attention when I see his name again.

Sidenote: For a $12M budget it produced over $300M at box office. What a return on investment.

"I love you Hazel Grace!".