The Fault in The Fault in Our Stars

(I know, baduy title, but it was practically asking for it!) 

I wanted so desperately to like this movie, and cry when the movie asked to, but I couldn’t. Don’t get me wrong, it was an okay movie, but to me, it never became more than just okay. (Okay.) 

It was partly because of my douche pants seatmate in the cinema (who kept laughing at his friends who were crying) and partly because it felt predictable. I kept comparing it to A Walk to Remember or Sweet November. There were differences of course, but in the end you knew in your heart, that someone was going to die and that it would be the great big tragedy of the story… 

Why you guys look so good together???

Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort did a fair enough job portraying the love-struck cancer kids. Shailene was heart-breaking as the fragile but lovely Hazel Grace. Ansel’s Gus was a breath of fresh air in most of his scenes. They have great chemistry (probably because they’re friends in real life and they were brother and sister in Divergent) (…eew, btw.). They nail the dramatic beats especially by the movie’s third act. (Gas Station scene, youch.) Willem Dafoe’s Van Houten was also a notable performance. Seeing him for the first time on screen was just as harshly off-putting for me as it was for Hazel and Gus.

Their little infinity.

So I think it was just a case of over expectancy/thinking on my part, which was why the emotional moments never packed the punch I wanted it to have. (Screw you brain!) And like I said, every time tears start to form in my eyes, dick wad seatmate would put a plug in it.

So many quotable quotes. A treasure chest of sappiness.

I will read the book. I think that if I knew the characters and their relationship as intimately as my girlfriend and the other people in the cinema (who were obviously fans of the book), I’d feel more invested. I have probably bawled over too. And I think a lot of the beauty of the story lies in all the existential reflection. I want to drown myself in the story’s philosophy and really appreciate what Gus and Hazel Grace were going through. 

It was a sweet idea, no doubt. Two people who still choose to love a doomed love. It was tragic but ultimately moving. (Ladies, don’t wear eye makeup.) I left the cinema with a semi-depressed feeling in my gut. But it’s been done before. I wanted to see something new, something to put me over the edge and make me cry like a girl, but, unfortunately, my manhood remains intact. 

MICMIC RATING: 7/10 

PS. But that soundtrack though. Goodness. We stayed through the credits just to listen to the songs. I’m listening to it now, actually.

My heart!!!!