Last night, thanks to the awesome Alamo Drafthouse, I had the chance to attend an advanced screening of The Fault in Our Stars, the long awaited film adaptation of John Green’s best selling novel. As if seeing the movie in advance for free wasn’t enough, John Green and the director, Josh Boone, were on hand for a Q&A session after the movie. I basically hit the book/movie nerd jackpot!
For those who haven’t bawled their eyes out over the pages of the book, let me break it down for you a bit. The Fault in Our Stars is a touching and heartbreaking love story between Hazel, a sixteen year old girl with terminal cancer, and Augustus, a cancer survivor. Together they explore universal questions of life and death, while managing to fall in love along the way. It’s a story that has touched the hearts of many creating a sort of cult following.
So yesterday, after relinquishing our cell phones and passing the metal detector wand test, we piled into the theater eager to see Hazel and Gus’ love story play across the screen. And by the end of movie there was not a dry eye in the theater. The tissues were drawn. Tears were flowing. And sniffling could be heard coming from every direction. A sign that the movie was a success. In fact, I realized that the girl standing in front of me in line before the movie was right. It WAS hard to eat and cry at the same time!
John Green’s hands on approach allowed the movie to stay as faithful to the book as possible, which was a wonderful surprise. While some scenes did not make the cut and others were slightly altered or rushed, the purity of the love story remained.
Humor was interjected throughout the movie allowing the audience to fall in love with the characters, while also providing brief moments of reprieve from the heartache. It was not uncommon to be teary eyed one moment and laughing the next.
The acting was incredible. Shailene Woodley caught the essence of Hazel’s personality and witty sense of humor perfectly. And you couldn’t help but fall in love with Ansel Elgort as Augustus, the cocky and sweet boy who was also filled with fear. The supporting cast was also quite amazing contributing to the humor and emotion within the film.
Overall, I think this film is a must see and I’m not only one. As I was slowly walking out of the theater, I heard a woman describe the movie, as “perfect.” Her male companion also admitted to tearing up a few times. Others merely wore the evidence on their tear stained faces. So on June 6th grab your tissues and head on down to the movies. Okay?
Are you excited for the movie? Have you read the book? What did you think of it?
Update: Theaters across the U.S. will be hosting Night Before Our Stars on June 5th, which will include a showing of the movie and a simulcast Q&A session with Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Nat Wolff, author John Green, director Joshua Boone and producer Wyck Godfrey. The cost is $25.
Update: Now you can win the jackpot too! Check out the giveaway on Mommy’s Memorandum for the chance to win a $25 Visa Gift card to see the film in theaters, a copy of the book (movie tie-in book cover), and a FIOS tote Bag!
