Ah, young love - the perfect fodder for a Young Adult novel, and no author in this day and age may have cracked the genre’s formula better than John Green. Unlike a large number of his peers, the guy is actually pretty talented and comes across as a genuine, caring individual (at least through his various social media avenues). While he experienced modest success with his first few novels, he was catapulted to the level of ‘Superstar Author’ with the release of 2012’s ‘The Fault in Our Stars, which received critical acclaim and debuted at #1 on The New York Times Best Seller list for Children’s Chapter Books. The film adaptation raked in crazy big bucks so it’s only natural that other adaptations of his works would follow, hence 2015’s Paper Towns.
I have to admit something right off the bat: I haven’t actually read a single one of Mr. Green’s novels. My introduction to his work was through the 2014 film adaptation of ‘The Fault in Our Stars,’ which, despite some saccharine elements, surprised me with its pleasant earnestness and humor, not to mention the knockout performances of its two leads. I approached Paper Towns with the same amount of ignorance and zero expectations and once again came away moderately impressed, though not nearly to the extent I had been with The Fault in Our Stars. Paper Towns features a similar brand of the charm that made The Fault in Our Stars such a memorable and moving experience. What makes it inferior to its predecessor is that it never manages to connect on a deeper level beyond the surface due to a lack of well-drawn characters and a primary romance that just doesn’t work.
Right from the get-go we’re in familiar territory with an opening narration courtesy of our main protagonist Quentin Jacobsen (Nat Wolff). The narration is standard fare from screenwriting pair Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, who can, at this point in their careers, adapt Young Adult novels in their sleep. Quentin takes us through a brief recounting of his relationship with Margo Spiegelman (Cara Delevingne), the girl who moved into the house across the street from him when they were kids and whom he’s been in love with ever since. Even at a young age, Margo exhibited a devil-may-care attitude, seeking out adventure at every opportunity. Quentin was more cautious, opting to play it safe. He’s totally enraptured by the allure of Margo and it carries into their high school years, even as they drifted apart to the point of not even speaking to one another.
But all of that changes one night when Margo shows up at Quentin’s bedroom window to recruit him as her getaway driver for a revenge vendetta. She’s just discovered her boyfriend has been cheating on her and a number of their mutual friends knew about it. She plans to get a little payback by pranking them all in the course of an evening, everything from catching her now ex-boyfriend in the act of cheating to saran wrapping another ‘friend’s’ car. Quentin, although reluctant to join her quest at first, can’t resist her charms and agrees to tag along. The night ends up going down in history as one of the greatest of his life as it provides him ample opportunity to stare longingly at Margo while they drive around Orlando, Florida, blaring your obligatory repertoire of indie-rock tunes, standard for any film of this genre. When the experience comes to an end, Quentin feels like things will finally be different between the two of them, but when he heads to school the next day Margo is nowhere to be found. Turns out she’s skipped town and after discovering a couple of clues she’s left for him, Quentin is determined to solve the mystery of her whereabouts and prove his undying love and affection for her.
The film version of Paper Towns has a decent amount of things working in its favor. The performances are mostly on-point, particularly from Nat Wolff and the two lads cast as his best friends, Austin Abrams and Justice Smith. When these three boys are on screen together, everything works. They expertly capture the dynamics of a high school friendship in its twilight years. Their scenes work so well, in fact, that the film ends up functioning better when it focuses on them as opposed to the shallow romance, which is supposed to be the main point of the entire story. The script never seems to know which plotline it should give focus to and this is at the primary reason of why Paper Towns doesn’t fully work.
That and its subpar romance.
I’ll just be blunt: the core relationship that drives the mystery of the film’s entire plot simply isn’t that interesting. This is largely due to the fact that Quentin and Margo never come across as fully formed characters and neither the screenwriters nor the director give us much of a reason to buy into the idea that Quentin would abandon all logic and reason for this girl. That goes double for Margo herself, who isn’t nearly as alluring as the film seems to think she is or even all that likable. Delevingne does what she can with the material, but she just comes across as bored. It’s a shame the filmmakers never see fit to develop her character beyond her physical appearance or literary and musical tastes. (From what I can gather from those who have read the book, the source material contained the same issues.)
Despite its paper-thin premise and characters, Paper Towns managed to hold my attention and keep me entertained, if not necessarily involved, thanks to its performances and Jake Schreier’s upbeat direction. It’s not a waste of time by any stretch and fans of John Green’s work will probably go ga-ga for it. It’s just a shame that its main plot and lackluster romance aren’t given the same amount of development as the subplot that examines the bittersweet pangs of leaving high school friends behind.
FINAL RATING: 3/5
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