Paper Towns features too many self-absorbed teens

Movie:    Paper Towns

PG-13, 1 hour 49 minutes

Grade:    C for Couldn’t stand the self-absorbed teenage angst  
OR           D for Don't waste your time or money on this

In a Nutshell:    Critics love this coming-of-age movie, but I found the self-centered adolescent drama extremely annoying.

Nat Wolff (whose parents hold the titles of famous writer, director, actor, and musician) plays a nerd who will do anything to be with the girl of his dreams, played by model Cara Delevingne.

Written by John Green, the paper thin characters don’t have the depth that his characters in his book The Fault In Our Stars do.  Read my movie review of Fault in Our Stars here.

On the other hand, teens who long for an epic road trip and are on their own journey to discover who they really are will  probably really like this flick.

Uplifting Theme:

·         Quentin says “I feel my heart beating in my chest.”  Margo explains “That’s how you know you’re having fun.”  

·         Enjoy the moment.  You only get one shot at life, so make every minute count.

Things I liked:

·        The beautiful Cara Delevingne reminds me of a young Merriel Hemmingway.

·         Who doesn’t fantasize about disappearing and having an adventure?

·         I was happy to hear Quentin’s speech at the end about the lessons he had learned about life and the truths he ultimately discovered for himself.  At least there was some growth throughout the nonsense.
-    It was interesting to see the clues Margo left and then watch how Quentin figured them out.

Things I didn’t like:

·         Margo is a total vandal.  Aw, how sweet.  Seriously, I really hated her character. She’s such a terrible role model for your kids who want to see the movie.  I'd be furious if one of my sons chased after such a stupid girl, especially if he ditched high school to do it.  I'm such a mom.

·         Margo says “It’s a paper town.  I mean, look at it: the paper houses, paper streets…and the people too.  I’ve never met anyone who cares about anything that matters.”   - This is such an egotistical, ignorant comment.  If she actually looked in her community, she would find countless examples of people serving one another.  Instead of spending her energy getting revenge on people she considers to be less-than-perfect (as if she is without flaws), she should try serving others and thinking outside herself.  She reveals that she doesn't know who she really is, but she has no forgiveness or patience for others who are trying to figure it out for themselves too.

·         Margo asks Quentin “There’s going to be a time in your life when you ask yourself ‘what do you regret more: removing his eyebrow or not?’”  How stupid.  You know, I have to say that I’ve never regretted my decisions to choose kindness over revenge. 

·         The teenagers in my audience giggled at the disrespectful, rebellious behavior of the teens in the movie. 

·         There’s a totally dumb scene where Lacey (Halston Sage)  sits in a bathtub during a party and invites Quentin to get in with her.  She asks him “what’s the first word you think when you see me? When he responds, “beautiful”, she gets mad and whines that no one ever sees her as smart.  She insists “I’m not a slut.”

·         Margo has a history of running away when her life doesn’t go the way she wants it to.  That’s a horrible defense mechanism.  She also doesn’t consider the feelings of others or the consequences of her actions.  Girls, she may be pretty, but she has terrible qualities that you don’t want to emulate.

Funny lines:

·         “Eyebrows grow back.  Lame is forever.” – the note Margo writes to a guy who did something mean way back when they were in middle school.   Wait a second, isn’t she the lame one for holding a grudge for so long?  I guess she never watched Frozen and learned to "let it go."

·         “Who’s the kid?” – Gus, the security guard

“I’m 6 months older than her.” – Quentin

·         “I’m a big believer in random Capitalization.” – Lacey

·         “Look at us!  We’re ninjas!” – Margo

“I’m not a ninja.” – Quentin

“You are a ninja….just a really awkward ninja.” - Margo

Interesting lines:

·         “Margo loved mysteries so much.  I was thinking, maybe she loved them so much, she became one.” – Quentin

·         “We’re going to right some wrongs.  And then we’re going to wrong some rights.  Basically, this is going to be the best night of your life.” – Margo

·         “We bring the rain and not the scattered showers.” – Margo   (She acts deep, but she is extremely shallow)

·         “Here’s a tip: you’re cute when you’re confident….less when you’re not.” – Margo    (great tip for everyone)

·         “What a treacherous thing it is to believe that a person is more than a person.” - Quentin

Tips for Parents:

·         One of Quentin's friends is obsessed with Quentin's mom and constantly makes inappropriate jokes about getting together with her.

·         Some profanity.
-     Talk of sex, venereal diseases.  The worst part of that is the teens' flippant, casual attitude about sex, as if there are no consequences.

·         The worst thing about this movie is the behavior and attitudes of the teenagers.  As a mom, I really hated this movie.

Loved the movie?   Here's the book, and another one from the same author:

           

The Fault in Our Stars has very few faults

Movie Title:  The Fault in Our Stars

PG-13, 2 hours 5 minutes

Grade:  A-

In a Nutshell:   I’m going to have to read this book.  The movie is based on the #1 bestselling novel by John Green and only whets your appetite with meaty nuggets of wisdom about life and love.  Get your tissues ready.  The movie starts with Hazel Grace, a teenager who battles every day with lung cancer: “I believe we have a choice in this world about how to tell sad stories.  One the one hand, you can sugar-coat it, the way they do in movies and romance novels for beautiful people to learn beautiful lessons, when nothing’s too messed up that can’t be fixed with an apology or a Peter Gabriel song.  I like that version as much as the next girl does, believe me.  It’s just not the truth.  This is the truth.  Sorry.”

Uplifting theme: 

• They say you can write your own eulogy.  How?  Write what you want to happen in your life and then live it.
• Death is unbearable, but so is living a life without love and less than what you are capable of.
• There is an honesty to the way people with incurable diseases live.  Unlike the rest of us who pretend that we can have as many days and nights as we want, those who stare death in the face every day truly understand the value of time.
• The movie isn’t so much about dying, but living in the face of death and after a loved one dies.

Things I liked:

• As an author myself, I loved the part of the story that features Hazel Grace’s relationship with a writer of a book she is obsessed with.  I love the title of the book “Imperial Affliction” and the fact that the story ends in the middle of a sentence. Hazel says “It’s so truthful.  You just die.  You die in the middle of a sentence.”
• I loved Augustus’ cigarette metaphor: “They don’t kill you unless you light them, and I’ve never lit one.  It’s a metaphor.  See, you put the killing thing right between your teeth, but you don’t give it the power to do its killing.  A metaphor.”  Not that I would go so far as to buy cigarettes to put between my lips, but I love the feeling of empowerment and defiance that image evokes.
• I loved seeing the bridges in Amsterdam that Hazel and Gus sailed underneath.  It’s on my Bucket List.
• I thought it was cute that two of the couples in the movie have a word they lovingly repeated to each other like “always” or Hazel and Gus’ “OK.”  One word can say so much.
• I liked Hazel and Gus’ conversation about believing in something after this life.  Gus said he absolutely did…“Otherwise, what’s the point?”
• It’s always great to see Willem Dafoe in anything.
• There is warmth, humor, and honesty in the story-telling.  Cancer weepies can often be too contrived and manipulative, but there is enough snark and wisdom in this film to pull it off.

Things I didn’t like:

• Only in Chick Flicks do teenage boys fall all over themselves to win a girl’s affection.  Guys: take note…it works every time.
• The music tends to cue you on when to cry, but you do it anyway.
• Call me an old fuddy-duddy, but I really hate watching pre-marital sex scenes.  I also hate it when people make fun of well-intentioned Christians, like Hazel and Gus do in their cancer therapy session when their group leader starts singing to give them hope.

Did you know?

• The imaginative playground with the skeleton where Hazel and Gus have a picnic is actually located on the grounds of the Indianapolis Museum of Art and is called “Funky Bones.”
• Dozens of web sites have been created by fans who want to continue talking about this book and movie.
• Sheilene Woodley (Hazel Grace) and Ansel Elgort (Augustus) did a fantastic job.  They played brother and sister in Divergent and have great chemistry together.  Sheilene admits they have more of a brother-sister relationship in real life…not romantic.  You can read my movie review about Divergent here.

Interesting lines:

• “That’s the thing about pain: it demands to be felt.”   - Augustus
• “I wouldn’t mind.  It would be my privilege to have my heart broken by you.”  - Augustus
• “I’m a grenade.  One day I’m going to explode and obliterate everything in my wake and I don’t know…It’s just my responsibility to minimize the casualties.”  - Hazel Grace
• “Everything’s coming up Waters.”  - Hazel Grace
• “You two are so adorable.”  - Mom

“We’re just friends.”  - Hazel Grace

 “Well, she is.  I’m not.” – Augustus

• The waiter in the beautiful Amsterdam restaurant asked Hazel Grace and Gus “Do you know what Don Perignon said after he invented champagne?”  “Come quickly!  I’m tasting the stars!”  The waiter then told them“We’ve bottled all the stars for you, my young friends.”
• “I want this Dragon Carrot Risotti to become a person so that I can take it to Vegas and marry it.”  - Gus
• “You’re American.”  - Van Houten’s assistant   

“Incurably so.”  - Author Peter  Van Houten

• “You gave me a forever within a numbered days and, for that, I am eternally grateful.”  - Hazel to Gus
• “If you want the rainbow, you have to deal with the rain.”  - sign that hangs on Gus’ wall at home.
• “Funerals are not for the dead.  They’re for the living.”  - Hazel Grace
• “You don’t get to choose if you get hurt in this world, but you do have a say in who hurts you and I like my choices.”  - Gus
• “I fell in love the way you fall asleep…slowly, then all at once.”  - Hazel
• “Embrace your destiny and leave your mark on the world.”  - Augustus

Funny lines:

• “So yeah, that just happened.  I’ve been trying to tell you… I’m kinda awesome.”  - Augustus
• Hazel, Gus and Isaac egg a house and Hazel says “Guys, I think we should wait until it’s dark.”  Gus reminds her that Isaac is blind and says “It’s all dark to Isaac.” 
• Hazel asks Isaac, who just broke up with his girlfriend, “Do you want to talk about it?”  His honest reply: “No, I just want to cry and play video games.”

Tips for parents:  Pre-marital sex, groping, 1 F-bomb and some other profanity.  The movie creates some good opportunities to talk to your children about:

• Disabilities
• Terminal illness & lung diseases
• Anne Frank
• Amsterdam
• Death
• The Trolley Problem

The rest of the story: This love story has a sad, but romantic real-life ending.  Katie Prager died 5 days after her husband died due to complications from cystic fibrosis and a lung transplant.  She was only 26 years old.  To learn more about the real couple in this movie, watch this video clip from CNN:  http://www.msn.com/en-us/video/peopleandplaces/fault-in-our-stars-wife-dies-5-days-after-husband/vi-BBwv9Nu?ocid=spartanntp