The cuts are jumpy, ill-fitted and excessive, taking away from the overall feeling. The film’s editing rhythms are just as distracting, particularly the number of reaction shots between Woodley and Ansel Elgort, who plays Augustus Waters. In the latter half of the film, it was all I could hear. For the music to swell up when it’s “time to cry” is not an uncommon practice, but for whatever reason, it’s painstakingly obvious this time. You might cry because it’s a sad moment, but the swelling soundtrack and the close-up on Woodley’s tear-stained face will really drive it home for you. Even if you haven’t read the book, I’m sure you’ll shed tears when Shailene Woodley, who plays Hazel, cries while giving her doomed lover a mock eulogy. Part of the problem is that the movie works hard-too hard-at evoking the same emotions the book had on its readers. While the majority of the film stays faithful to the novel, I left the theater in contrived tears, wanting more from the two-hour-plus movie. For those who don’t know, it’s a modern-day, tragic love story about a 16-year-old cancer patient, Hazel Grace Lancaster, who falls in love with another cancer-stricken teen, Augustus Waters. The teen summer blockbuster has been out for two weeks –– the John Green best-seller it’s based on for two years –– and if you haven’t heard about “The Fault in Our Stars” yet, I’m wondering where you have been.
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