movies
PAGE 26 + GO! MAGAZINE
THE BULLETIN • FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014
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James Bridges /20th Century Fox
Ansel Elgort, left, and Shailene Woodley star in "The Fault in Our Stars," a tear-jerking cinematic take on the novel by John Green.
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e OUTL
• Shailene Woodley's unforgettable performance makes'TheFault in OurStars'worthwhile viewing fter having the privilege of witnessing Shailene Woodley's transcendent, pure and authenticperformance in"The
A
Fault in Our Stars," I believe there
tear-jerker with more than a few twists, some slaps in the face of
conventional storytelling and a poetic but realistic take on the glory and the unfairness of life. Director
are now only four slots available in the category of Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role. She's that memorable. Cheers to a film in which the female teenage protagonist isn't a mutant, an animated princess, a vampire, in love with a vampire or a boy-crazed rebel plotting the springbreak of her lifetime. Woodley's Hazel Lancaster is a superhero of a different kind. She's a girl who was diagnosed with cancer at 13, miraculously survived, but still
Josh Boone does a wonderful job
literally can't breathe without her
thing moves. Also at times abit too CW-hunk withhisboy-band good
oxygentank. The many avid fans of John G reen's novel know t hi s i s
a
of celebrating the sentimentali-
ty without shying away from the tough moments. The pacing, music and editing are all first-rate.
Ansel Elgort, who played Woodley's brother in "Divergent," is Augustus Waters,a cancer survivor
who lost one leg below the knee. Augustus is a bit much at times, the kindof charmer who makes a
girl swoon and makes her parents roll their eyes at his admittedly sincere but nonstop ain't-I-somelooks, his mannerisms and deliv-
ery, Elgort does a fine job, and he
S OUTL S BT
beautiful girl, but in a natural way where you can see her playing the girl who gets the guy, or the wiseROEPER cracking best friend. Every line happens to the characters after the of dialogue she says in this film narrator dies; obviously Hazel has sounds as if we're eavesdropping these same questions about what on a real life. Even when we're just will happen to the people she loves watching her face as she's texting "The Fault in Our Stars" with Augustus, there's no evidence after she's gone. 125 minutes There's a pilgrimage to Amster- of capital letters ACTING. And PG-13, for thematic elements, some dam, wheremany things happen, that's certainly true when she's gosexuality and brief strong language none of them what you might ex- ing through some unbearable pain, pect if you haven't read the book. physical and of the heart. With a running time just over finds some good rhythms in the During this segment, "The Fault in Our Stars" tests the limits of our two hours, " The Fault in O u r many scenes where it's just him and Woodley, becoming friends willingness to give our hearts to Stars" might have been even more and then maybe something more. this story. With lesser source ma- effective with just a little judicious Nat Wolff is a terrific comic foil terial, an average director and an trimming, especially in the final as Augustus' best friend, Isaac, OK cast, the film could have lost act. But by that point I was more who's going blind from HIS can- me. But everyone involved in this than willing to indulge these charcer. (Hazel met the two of them at a project has talents way beyond the acters and their story just a little bit longer. Led by unforgettable support group. One of your darker average or even the simply good. meet-cutes.) And Laura Dern does In films such as "The Descen- work from a young actress who's a magnificent job of capturing the dants" and "The Spectacular among the best of her generation, life of a mother who spends nearly Now," it was immediately apparent "The Fault in Our Stars" is a lovely every waking and sleeping mo- Shailene Woodley had the kind work. — Richard Roeper is a film critic ment on edge, awaiting the next of natural talent that's rare for an setback for her daughter. actress of any age. Sure, she's a for The Chicago Surt-Times
RICHARD
Hazel is obsessed with a novel by a redusive author played by Willem Dafoe. She loves the book, but she has questions about what