Paper Towns

When reviewing a movie based on a book, should the reviewer make the movie's story part of the commentary, even if the movie's plot matches the book's plot closely? I say yes. And I'll go even further. I don't think it's necessary for the reviewer to read the book before reviewing the movie. Here's why: A movie reviewer reviews movies, not books. A movie has to stand on its own, whether the viewer has read the book or not (and, usually, the majority haven't). Now, if I haven't read the book, after I see the movie, I'll do some background research on the differences between the two so I can include that information in my review, but I'm still only going to judge aspects of the movie as they contribute to the whole. Take the movie "Paper Towns" (PG-13, 1:49) for example. Although I haven't read the book, I have read enough about the book to compare them, but I'm still only judging what appeared on screen.

I say all that to say this: "Live life to the fullest." There. I just saved you almost two hours. That's really all this movie is about. Didn't care for the story. Didn't care for the movie. Still, I do owe you more than that, so, as always, I'll tell you about the actors and the plot (without spoilers), I'll explain the grade I've given the movie, including what I think wasn't good and what was good (because, after all, there's some of both in almost every movie). And whether you think the book was better than the movie or the movie was better than the book is irrelevant. This is a movie review. Ya feel me? Cool. Onward and upward… The movie takes its title from the 2008 book by John Green (author of "The Fault in Our Stars"). In the eyes of one of the story's central characters, paper towns are cities in which people ("paper people") go about their hum-drum lives without really living. The title also carries a literal real-world meaning. The title is a reference to the cartographers' practice of putting fake places onto the maps they make to deter copyright infringement (or catch anyone who does such infringing). These plagiarism traps have several names, including paper towns. One such paper town is Agloe (in New York State's Catskill Mountains), which is where the story's climax takes place. But the story begins in Orlando, Florida.

Quentin "Q" Jacobsen (Nat Wolff) fell in love with Margo Roth Spiegelman (model-singer-actress Cara Delevingne) when her family moved in across the street from his. Both kids were in elementary school, but it was love at first sight for him. It was friendship for her… and then it wasn't even that. Q and Margo drifted apart. As high school seniors, they don't even acknowledge each other anymore. She's beautiful, free-spirited and mysterious (as she has always been) and hangs out with the other popular kids. Q is socially awkward and the opposite of adventurous and hangs out with his two best friends and fellow band students, Ben Starling (Austin Abrams) and Marcus "Radar" Lincoln (Justice Smith).

The action really starts one night when Margo crawls in through Q's bedroom window and asks to borrow his car to pull revenge pranks on her cheating boyfriend and others whom she feels have betrayed her. Q reluctantly agrees to be her getaway driver, and even helps a bit. Over the course of the night, he admits that he had fun and he begins to hope that this experience will rekindle his dormant friendship with Margo and maybe lead to something more. His hopes are soon dashed when Margo goes missing. Her parents believe that she has run away (for the fifth time), and now that she's 18, they aren't even going to look for her. Both Q and Lacey Pemberton (Halston Sage), Margo's best friend, want to know what happened to Margo, but they haven't a clue… yet.

"Margo always loved mysteries," Q tells us in his brief narration at the beginning of the film. "So much that she became one." Margo may be a gone girl, but she left clues, which lead Q, Ben and Radar to search Margo's room, take her bedroom door off its hinges, go to an abandoned building in a shady part of town and, eventually take a long road trip, joined by Radar's girlfriend, Angela (Jaz Sinclair) and Lacey, on whom Ben has a crush (when he's not lusting after Q's mother). Through all this, the film omits some of the episodes in the book (as almost all film adaptations have to do), but keeps all the most important plot points (including the ending), as well as the "moral of the story".

"Paper Towns" has a worthwhile message, but takes as long to get there as driving from Florida to New York. The story's original enough, but it's highly unrealistic. The actors are appealing and the film treats the teens like real people, but they seem abnormally worldly for their ages and their angst sometimes annoyingly plays out as nothing more than (mostly) spoiled rich white kids complaining about their lives. Lastly, after emotionally investing (as much I could) in these characters, as well as almost two hours of my time, I found the ending frustrating. "Paper Towns" is as disappointing as a sightseeing trip to Agloe, New York. "C"

"Maybe all the strings inside of him broke."

Walking into the cinema... John Green is the author for this teen drama. Can this film rise above the typical coming of age films?

Overall rating: 3.5 stars Cinematic value: 4 stars Big Questions value: 3 stars

Coming of age films are not new to the cinematic landscape, but Hollywood manages to propagate a new batch for each generation. Every once and a while, one stands out from the rest. From Rebel Without a Cause to Say Anything to Breakfast Club, this genre has provided positive memories and the lines that resonate throughout our younger years. Paper Towns and author John Green have struck this cord and provide a voice for this generation. The high school journey of Quentin (Nat Wolff) and his mysterious neighbour Margo (Cara Delevingne) is an adaptation of the Green novel. Quentin and Margo are friends throughout their childhood but have grown apart over the years. Then on a fateful night during their last year of high school, Margo asks Quentin for his help on a mission of revenge against friends who have done her wrong. The midnight escapade becomes a life-changing event for Quentin and he begins to pine after Margo again, then she mysteriously disappears. Family and friends want to know where she went and the mystery deepens as Quentin finds clues about her whereabouts that Margo left behind. He recruits his band of friends to take the road trip of a life time to find this teenage runaway. Throughout the life-transitory road trip, Quentin finds out more about himself, his relationships with his friends and what to do with his misplaced love of the mysterious Margo.

Throughout the opening moments of Paper Towns it feels like it was going down the predictable coming of age narrative. Boy meets girl, girl lives across the street, girl lives an adventurous life and boy pines after her from a distance. Quickly, director Jake Schreier (Robot and Frank) pulls the story out of the hormonal malaise and into the kaleidoscope of different expectations. His lead characters provide an unexpected depth. Nat Wolff and Cara Delevingne were perfectly cast in this teen mystery. Wolff proves to have a John Cusack (Say Anything) quality that makes him appealing as the average boy that proves cool in the end, while Delevingne provides enough smouldering excitement to make her worth this young man's pursuit. They are surrounded by a wonderful cast of characters that compliment the comedic dialogue and the contemplative moments of the script. This is where the film differentiates itself within this genre. Even within the stereotypical trappings of the party scene, suggested teen sex and proverbial geek trio, the writing lifts the story line out of the post-pubescent mire. It may seem unrealistic to think that teens could speak at the depth that they do in Paper Towns, but the characters make these lines plausible and accessible. There is a maturity with a twist of hormonal angst that gives this story the necessary edge it needs. Also, the conclusion adds the unique twist that provides a surprising satisfaction to the adventure.

In the realm of teen dramas, Paper Towns does provide a new perspective on a generation, but if there are any difficulties with the film it was in the lack of parental involvement. In the typical American high-school scenarios, the lack of representation by the parents in the film does leave a hole in the narrative. The only people who seem to speak into the lives of these kids are other kids. This might be an insight on the lives of families today or a warning signal for parents to get more involved in the lives of their children. Regardless of the message that is trying to convey, the lack of any adult wisdom does leave a void in this engaging script. Paper Towns is an entertaining film that provides an opportunity for parental dialogue with their teens on many of the transitional issues of their lives.

Leaving the cinema: Paper Towns was a pleasant surprise. It does provide a new generation a cinematic voice and opens the door to some great topics of discussion for families.

Reel Dialogue: What are the bigger questions to consider from this film? 1. What is sacrificial love? (John 15:13, Ephesians 5:25) 2. Is life mysterious? (Colossians 2:1-3, Matthew 13:11-13) 3. Does God care about my dreams? (Jeremiah 29:11, Proverbs 16:3)

Written by Russell Matthews based on a five star rating system @ Russelling Reviews #russellingreviews #papertownsmovie

Labels: Cara Delevingne Coming of Age film Do we need another coming of age film Halston Sage high school Jake Schreier John David John Green Nat Wolff puberty The Fault in my stars

Reviewed by: Dare Devil Kid (DDK)

Rating: 3.4/5 stars

"Paper Towns" isn't as deep or moving as it wants to be, yet it's still earnest, well-acted, and thoughtful enough to earn a place in the hearts of teen filmgoers of all ages while providing a breezy, light-hearted nostalgic trip for adult viewers. Unlike "The Fault in Our Stars" (the first, big-screen John Green adaptation), the overall mood here is safe rather than edgy, but what it does do very effectively is capture a particular quality of adolescent yearning.

"Paper Towns" follows the familiar story of the wannabe high- schooler who meets a dreamy girl and everything falls into place. Trying to subvert this stereotypical storyline, the film neatly weaves themes of loneliness, fear, depression, and anxiety into the plot. The film takes a lot of the original spirit of the novel while subverting the story, taking out all the meandering teenage angst and replacing it with a fun, understated film.

It's eventually a bittersweet teen film with much to offer even those of us who have, in theory, grown up, although it never quite reaches its potential of a remarkable coming-of-age drama.

The first twenty minutes absolutely blew me away, totally enjoyable, when she'd disappeared I honestly thought it was going to be a kind of Gone Girl thriller, wrong, it fell somewhere between Road Trip and the Goonies. After adjusting to what essentially became a teenage road trip movie I kind of enjoyed it, there were some entertaining moments. I couldn't help feeling a little bit robbed, it had been set up so well, it literally felt like a different film after her disappearance.

The ending at least was one that decided not to pander to audience satisfaction, a little sour but interesting. As always with this kind of film the usual clichés are there in full, point zero as is the rule is the prom, they always have to be motivated by the prom.

Interesting casting, Nat Wolff was very good as Quentin, he didn't overplay it, very enjoyable. I will applaud the decision to cast Cara as Margo, maybe not the top of many lists but I felt her personality and natural self gave Margo her enigma and mysterious edge, I thought she was very good, the accent slipped to English on a few occasions, but that can be forgiven, I hope it's a springboard for her I like her.

6/10 It was good, it should have been so much more.

"What a treacherous thing to believe that a person is more than a person."

Thanks to the worldwide success of The Fault in Our Stars which was adapted from John Green's 2012 novel, the producers have decided to adapt some of his earlier work as well. Teaming up with the same screenwriters, Michael Weber and Scott Neustadter, casting Nat Wolff again (although this time as the lead), and hiring a new director, Jake Schreier (Robot and Frank), they had everything in place and ready to adapt Green's 2008 novel, Paper Towns, with the hopes of banking on the author's current fanbase. Although Paper Towns is similarly aimed towards a teen audience, it is very different from The Fault in Our Stars. It's a coming of age story that includes some mystery elements and ends up turning into a road trip movie. So despite following certain generic conventions in the teen genre it does manage to mix things up a bit and that was something I enjoyed. Everything else about Paper Towns including its characters are pretty familiar.

The film begins as a typical boy becomes infatuated with girl story, but it soon develops into much more than that. In Paper Towns this boy is Quentin (Nat Wolff) and the girl next door he falls for is Margo (Cara Delevinge). They shared a friendly past, the two hung out together as kids, but when they became older Margo's adventurous and wild behavior didn't go along with Quentin's much risk free and calm demeanor. During their senior year of High School, Margo was on her way to being the prom queen, while he was just the kids that went unnoticed. His two best friends, Radar (Justice Smith) and Ben (Austin Abrams), were aware of his obsession over her, but he never acted upon it. One night, Margo climbs through his window using her ninja skills as she used to when they were kids, and asks him to join her on one last mission. Apparently her boyfriend has been cheating on her with her best friend and she wants to get some payback. She asks him to drive her around on his mother's minivan and after the successful mission Quentin admits never having felt so much fun before. The next day, hopeful to resume his new found friendship with Margo he discovers that she has gone missing, but she has left some clues behind for him. With the help of Radar and Ben the three begin to try to solve the mystery of Margo's disappearance. Lacey (Halston Sage), one of Margo's closest friends, also decides to join the kids in trying to find her since they seem to be the only ones worried about her.

Michael Weber and Scott Neustadter are definitely the two screenwriters you want to hire for adapting teen based novels. This is perhaps their weakest effort, but it still stands above most other teen rom-coms. 500 Days of Summer and The Spectacular Now were both very well written screenplays with interesting characters and relationships, while The Fault in Our Stars banked on the the strong chemistry between Woodley and Elgort. Wolff in that film delivered most of the comedic scenes, but here he downplays his character and lets Abrams deliver most of the funny quirky scenes. Delevinge embodies her wild character pretty well, but considering she is missing throughout most of the movie she doesn't get much screen time. That is what makes Paper Towns such a rare teen romance because the girl is missing throughout most of the story and the focus is on Quentin's quest to find her. It's more about idealizing the other person and discovering that in reality they are simply a person. The mystery and the road trip is what makes this film stand out from other films in the genre and it makes the ride all that more enjoyable, but when compared to other coming of age films it probably ranks in the middle. The film shares some similarities with The Girl Next Door, which was a film I enjoyed a lot more probably because I was younger when I saw it. Paper Towns is a film for teens and if you're not in that target audience you might find it a bit difficult to enjoy. There is one scene in the movie that reminded me of this when during a cameo all the teen girls in the audience sighed at the sight of him.

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