The Fault in our Stars (2014) Movie Review


Director: Josh Boone
Cast: Shaileen Woodley, Ansel Elgort
Duration: 2 hr 14 mins
What is the meaning of life? What is death? Is there something beyond? These metaphysical questions are not explicitly expressed in this film, but they form the underlying support on which this story is narrated. This is a story of two cancer stricken teens with very different approaches to life, who come together and find love and support with each other. Cancer is a killer even more so when it strikes buds.
The movie revolves around Hazel (Shaileen Woodley) and Augustus (Ansel Elgort). They meet at a support group for youngsters with cancer and are intrigued by one another. Gus is very expressive, friendly and fun loving. He uses his charms on Hazel and brings out the positive side in her. He encourages her to come out of her self-induced depression and view life differently. It’s beautiful to see how the passion in young people if channelized well, can become a mutually enriching, growth enhancing and freeing experience.
The role of parents and friends in a person’s life are very well depicted. Having supportive, caring people around can help nurture good, balanced individuals. Hazel’s parents are very supportive and want her to enjoy her life as best she can.What would life be without challenges and risks? Gus constantly invites Hazel to risk doing things she would never do, without overdoing them.
The ‘Gus’ we see is a rare type in the real world. But probably, very strong experiences make one different and empathetic to people in similar conditions. Hazel is very natural and reflects the attitudes of a major chunk of people, not merely cancer patients. I would think that Hazel’s mother plays a very decisive role is how things pan out. Maybe the role was exaggerated a bit to achieve that result, but boy, it got me wishing for such a mother (not that my mother isn’t supportive or anything.. but you get the point…).
The story is beautiful even though the movie is pretty long and could do with some editing. The dry, music-less spells don’t help. A number of profound thoughts, questions, situations and emotions are depicted. The movie invites the viewer to revise his/her prejudices against cancer patients and to develop new approaches. It poses an existential challenge to the viewer, to develop a positive, constructive attitude toward life and ultimately dissolves sweetly into the ‘oblivion’ of love.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Great Grand Masti 2 (2016) (Movie Review)

Image
Dir: Indra Kumar Starring: Vivek Oberoi, Riteish Deshmukh, Aftab Shivdasani, Urvashi Rautela Dur: 2 hrs 10 mins Genre: Comedy Rating: 1/10 Comment: The jokes, gestures and costumes are sexually suggestive. An absolute waste of time. “What an opening line”, you might think. But to say otherwise would be an absolute lie. This film is in fact, a great grand waste of time. It’s horrible whichever way you look at it. The story is weak and thrives on cheap thrills and sorry jokes. The actresses are no doubt eye-catching but the rest is all a blur. The comedy is in fact tragedy and the film attempts to play on the basest desires of man. It’s unbelievable that actors like Riteish and Vivek would do such a film. I am not a big fan of bollywood but I still feel bad when I see bollywood making films like these. All of a sudden, I see that sex is being propagated through Indian cinema. The views of sex are changing and filmmakers and actors are not hesitating to take on unconvent
Read more

The Challenge of Mercy

Image
Pope Francis has declared this as the year of mercy, and up until now plenty of reflections have been preached and published on mercy. Perhaps each of us too have made our own reflection on the theme of mercy. Since the inauguration of the year, my mind has often reverted to this theme. Every night when I make an examination of conscience, I evaluate myself: my thoughts, words and deeds vis-à-vis mercy. I realize that I am not merciful most of the time and that I resort to do what benefits me over the merciful thing. Pope Francis realized that the Church needed to revisit the theme of mercy; to reflect upon it and put it into practice. Mercy is at the heart of the Gospel. Jesus is the personified revelator of the Father’s mercy. Through his words and deeds he suffused the scent of mercy. His teachings on mercy are appreciated and continue to inspire people even today. The Church itself was founded on mercy: Christ became the expiation for our sins (1 Jn 4:10; Heb 2:17). He for
Read more

Andadhun (2018) [Movie Review]

Image
Dir: Sriram Raghavan Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Radhika Apte and Tabu Dur: 2 hrs 18 mins Genre: Black Comedy Crime Thriller Rating: 3/10 I watched this film on good recommendations. It was hailed as one of the best films of 2018. The mystery surrounding the film went well with the mystery that was actually the film itself. I learnt a hard lesson after watching this film and that is not to go by what other’s say about a film. Given Bollywood’s film making standards, I should not have been surprised. Yet, I found myself pleasantly surprised at the end product. Andadhun tells a complex tale of blindness in a world that is not blind even though it appears so. Confused? Well then, watching the film is not going to make it any better. This film is a classical example of postmodern film-making. It is replete with ample plot twists that don’t allow you to settle into its tricky narrative. Just when you think you have it all figured out, a new twist emerges and challe
Read more