Many people argue that movies based off of books can never live up to the original. For many books, I believe that statement to hold some truth. However, “The Fault in Our Stars” surpassed my own ideas of how fantastic a movie can be.
The film is focused on two teenagers who are trying to live typical lives, which are complicated by cancer.This movie is not just a sad cancer movie; I would argue it shows the truth behind what life is like with cancer.
A lot of times when you leave a movie that was based on a popular novel, you have some crazy book fans screaming, “that’s not even how it ends” or “that ending was so dumb.” However, “The Fault in Our Stars” film had an ending that was different in a good way. It helped the audience feel somewhat at peace from the devastation that they had previously felt.
Here comes a spoiler, so read at your own risk. In the movie, Gus dies much faster and suffers less. For those who have read the books, when you found out that Gus’ cancer is back with a vengeance, it was so hard to read about how he struggled in his last weeks on earth. Anybody who has read this book had to have shed a tear or maybe even sobbed into their pillow, but when you see the actors connect you can feel and see Hazel’s heartbreak when she finds out that Gus had passed. There is nothing more gratifying when you see raw emotion from actors.
The soundtrack from the movie is phenomenal. The placement of songs during the movie really helps you connect with the actors on the screen. My favorite in the whole movie is “Oblivion” by Lykke Li. Indians.
A great visual aspect of the movie was how Hazel and Gus’s texts pop up on the screen in colorful animated bubbles just as if we were staring at her phone. The timing makes you feel as if the conversation was happening right there in the moment. The anticipation from that timing really makes those scenes.