Paper Towns

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source: Paper Towns

We all know that one person. That person who an ordinary life was just never going to be enough for. They're often fascinating people to talk to and I've often wondered whether I'd like to be one of those people (or even just join them on their journey through life), because their life seems like it's going to be a hell of a ride. 'Paper Towns' is about one of those people and how they can affect the lives of us "normies", for lack of a better word. Much like John Green's first film adaption 'The Fault in Our Stars' the characters are an absolute delight. They're charming, interesting, funny and most of all thought-provoking. The story in 'Paper Towns' is undoubtedly weaker than 'The Fault in out Stars', but this almost manages to go unnoticed as we are treated to these wonderful characters and are also left wondering how things will end up for them. Nat Wolff and Cara Delevingne in the leads were well cast. Wolff lacked some charm in the odd scene here and there but overall was good. Delevingne was the stand out for me. She had less screen time than perhaps anticipated but the scenes she did have she stole the show in. She was believable in her role and that could have been a tricky thing to achieve for some actresses in a role like this. Overall it's a good watch. If people compare it to 'The Fault in Our Stars' too much they might come away disappointed. But if you treat it as its own film (as you should) then you'll realise the quality is very good. The film will appeal to all ages and will do something a lot of films struggle to achieve - make the audience come away thinking. Any film that achieves that is a film worth watching in my opinion.

John Green's adaptation of Paper Towns is a really good film that I'm sure that teenage girls will definitely love to watch. This well-anticipated film is interesting, fun and different. The comedy is great and will absolutely keep you laughing. Quentin (Nat Wolff) and Margo (Cara Delevingne) spend an exhilarating and heart racing night together as they go on an adventure through their hometown. Afterwards Margo unexpectedly vanishes. As Quentin and his friends go on a quest to find Margo, the mystery of her life begins to unravel and Quentin discovers a little bit more about himself. Paper Towns is a mystery, drama and romance all wrapped up in one. It offers a view of high schoolers that is pretty true to life. I'm sure it will remind some adults of their younger days and the adventures they took. This is Cara Delevingne's first leading film role and I appreciated her acting and the chemistry she seemed to have with the rest of the cast. As a Floridian, I feel great pride and joy that this film is set in the state where I live. I enjoyed seeing some familiar places. My favorite character in this film is Ben (Austin Abrams) because he's very funny. His actions, words and expressions all have great humor. Even though I don't have a specific favorite scene, a couple of the scenes that I really enjoy watching, are the scenes during the long road trip from Florida to New York. The conversations and situations that take place during this drive and, especially while in the rest area, are very funny and it definitely made me laugh. The score fills itself with many familiar songs and I enjoyed the music throughout the film. I had some confusion throughout the film and questioned many of the characters' decisions and their reactions to some situations they were dealing with. I recommend this film for ages 13 to 18 due to some language and mature content that are inappropriate for younger ages. I give Paper Town 3½ out of 5 stars, because of the confusion in the film. Reviewed by Brianna Hope B., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic. For more reviews by youth, go to kidsfirst dot org.

A cliché trying desperately to be different. Don't get me wrong - this is not a bad movie. The directing, cinematography, and art direction is great; in other words, it looks pretty. The performances were good. Unfortunately, those two elements only barely managed to salvage this film, which meanders with a predictable plot and YA tropes. We meet Guy, who's not conventionally handsome or bad-looking, is not really interesting, possesses no engaging backstory, and seems like a pretty decent human being but people (or girls) just think he's a loser. Then we get his sidekicks (aka subplots) that are painfully trite: the guy who salivates at the sight of breasts; and the other guy who's in a committed relationship and for some reason seems terrified of his girlfriend (and we never get a real reason why). They are written to be funny to try and provide some comic relief. And of course, we have Girl. Girl in this story is not likable (in fact, none of the characters are). Girl is named Margo, who is the next door neighbor to Guy (Quentin or Q). Guy meets Girl, falls in love with her, and of course, they drift apart because Girl becomes popular. Girl decides to just disappear after one night of a last adventure with Q. Apparently, she just leaves a lot. Her mother is not worried, just weary. Her parents don't even bother to file a missing person's report. Margo is selfish. Her best friend Lacey soon comes to realize that, but not soon enough. Q, deluded in a fantasy of what he wanted Margo to be, sets off on a journey from their home in Orlando to a paper town called Agleo, New York - all based on clues Margo left behind. Subplots and Margo's best friend tag along because why the heck not, carpe diem, and all that sh*t. There were many moments during the 109 minutes of this film where I cringed. Literally. When the hot, popular girl with great hair has been unfairly labeled as The Slut, she dispels that misconception and clarifies that she actually has got brains and is going off to Dartmouth. And that's all we get from this character. In fact, none of the supporting characters worked. They were just as paper as Margo lamented about the boring, humdrum inhabitants of their Orlando suburb. Perhaps a highlight of this movie is the charm that Nat Wolff delivers in his performance as the love-sick puppy, Q. Despite the blandness of his character, Wolff maintained a certain je ne sais quoi, even when he was being a complete idiot.

From the writers of last year's Fault in Our Stars, comes another pleasing teen drama about growing up and falling in love. Paper Towns follows Quentin Jacobson (played by Nat Wolff), a high school senior who's had a crush on his beautiful neighbor Margo (played by Cara Develigne) since childhood. After breaking up with her boyfriend and losing some of her friends in the process, Margo takes Quentin out on a late night of mischief and adventures through their hometown. Next day, Quentin comes school to learn that Margo has mysteriously disappeared. She ends up leaving behind cryptic messages and clues of her whereabouts. Determined to find her, Quentin and his friends embark on a road trip in search for her. Unlike Fault in Our Stars, this does center on a romance between two teenagers. Instead, it focuses on a group of teens growing up together and finding the love of their dreams. The film is a very endearing experience. Its funny, it's honest, and it's filled with characters many teenagers today can relate to. The story follows a young high school kid who is trying to find the mystery behind this girl he's known for most of his life, but never quite knew exactly who she truly was. Margo is very interesting character, no one understands her actions or why she does what she does, and the main point is about Quentin and his friends trying figure all this out. The story is beautifully written and has a spark to it. It's also very funny at times too, I laughed few times. It also has a few sentimental moments , but never gets sad or tear-jerking like Fault in Our Stars. The best part of this film is the characters. Quentin and his friends Ben and Marcus are the characters lot of teen boys can connect to, a group of boys who spend their time chatting about girls and their experiences with girls at their school. Then there is Lacey, who is a typical high school girl that many adolescent girls can relate to. I also liked our each of the characters have their own personality, like Quentin being the shy guy and Ben being kinda the nerdy kid. These characters are written pretty well. Paper Towns is a film that I recommend every teen to see, some adults too. Even if you haven't read the book (like me), it is still pretty enjoyable.

The good thing about Green's teenage stories are that the teenagers are kind of nice people, the bad thing is that it's just not very interesting. He loves her does silly things for her chases her she doesn't love him and it's over. What was the point of it? Don't bother to be whipped? Nat Wolff isn't quite leading man material. There are dorky types who are can carry off romance and passion but he just looks disinterested. Cara Delevigne the it girl from London pulls off a good accent. Her character isn't that interesting. The Fault in our Stars" wasn't totally original but it was involving. This one is just nothing.

The book overall was not special, but had enough heart to convey a fine coming of age tale. It was also a bit of a slow burn with drifting away from the main plot line many times before meeting back to towards the tail end to finish the story. The movie version feels like it is rushing and plodding at different times to reach its end, not knowing what to use from the more than enough material from the book to tell a tale. The first movie based on a John Green's novel 'The fault in our stars' had a little fantasy about its plot, which made suspension of disbelief happen naturally for the audience to enjoy the story. Unfortunately for John Green's other novel 'Paper Towns' it had to get things right about reality. And to make it into a PG-13 movie is hard. Everything has to dumbed down and put into appropriately classified boxed up stereotype. There is even a gimmick guest appearance from Ansel Elgort from the 'Fault in our stars'. The movie version should not been such a miss-hit. But the story in the book drifts away many times into long and unnecessary conversations between Q, Ben and Radar while playing games in their room or at the school. These conversations are important for the audience to bond with the three endearing characters. It slows the pace down but helps the book reach its not so stunning climax. The book also helps understand Margo's relationship with her parent's better, which is important to understand her constant vanishing act. The cast fails to deliver the dialogs convincingly and make everything look stiff. Worst off Cara Delevingne, the reason of all the trouble the hero gets in just days before his final exams, should definitely raise her acting level in her next project Suicide Squad to not terminate that franchise at the word go. Except for Justin Smith's Radar all everyone fails to have any kind of timing. The film comes off as having a very lazy production hoping to find success on the back off John Green's reader following; but thankfully they too disowned this serving.

I haven't read John Green's novel which the film "Paper Towns" is based on, but I note that the plot description of the novel in Wikipedia is remarkably similar to the film adaptation. Thus it appears that the film is a faithful rendering of the novel. Despite an immensely likable cast, I can only conclude that the fault with the narrative is due to the weakness of the original source material. The protagonist is one Quentin "Q" Jacobsen, a denizen of suburban Orlando, who has been pining away for his next-door-neighbor, Margo Roth Spiegelman, since childhood. We learn that the childhood friends have grown apart by the time they've reached adolescence, so Quentin is quite surprised when Margo climbs through his bedroom window with a proposal unbecoming of a protagonist's love object. Right away, Margo is disqualified as a likable character when she conscripts puppy dog Quentin in a revenge campaign against a boyfriend who has jilted her. And this is supposed to be the enigmatic rebel who later disappears and we're supposed to care about for the rest of the film? No need to rehash all of Margo's hijinks but the main point is that Quentin is so smitten with his neighbor the "rebel" that he's willing to risk a felony charge of breaking and entering in order curry favor with a girl he's fallen head over heels for. After Margo disappears, Act 2 is all about Quentin teaming up with his two buddies, Ben and Radar, along with Margo's estranged friend, Lacey, and Radar's girlfriend, Angela, to find Quentin's missing love interest. Margo leaves clues which eventually lead the group to an abandoned mini-mall where further clues are found. Then the group is off to upstate New York—along the way Lacey promises Ben she'll go with him to the prom and Radar loses his virginity with Angela. Upon arrival Margo is nowhere to be found and the group sans Quentin decides to high tail it back to Orlando in order to attend the prom. Finally, Quentin bumps into Margo just as he's buying a bus ticket to go back home. After waiting all this time for the dramatic climax, it turns out that Margo ran away simply to find herself (where she got the cash to support herself while on the run is never revealed). Quentin realizes that he had put Margo on a pedestal and that his infatuation with his childhood buddy was not productive. Nat Wolff as Quentin (who does a neat "Jimmy Stewart" impression along the way) may one day fill the shoes of the iconic actor. And Carla Delevingne (a dead ringer for either one of the Hemingway sisters), is sure to find notable roles in the Hollywood system in the future. Despite the likable cast, there is nothing about Margo, the principal love interest, that is the least bit interesting. The revelation at film's end that she's just an "ordinary teenager" who needs to find herself, is hardly the stuff of high drama. "Paper Towns" suffers from a lack of imagination on the part of Mr. Green, whose ordinary tale of teenage angst, fails to impress for all of its meandering 109 minutes.