3/5 Paper Towns The promotional campaign for the newest John Green YA adaptation, Paper Towns, is, to say the least, misleading. One quick look at the film’s poster or trailer, and you might think you are in for two hours of Nat Wolff and model Cara Delevingne exchanging clever banter. If you have seen or read any product of Green’s, you would be forgiven thinking this. You would never know that after fifteen minutes, Delevingne disappears completely for the remainder of the film. While this may surprise many, be comforted by the fact that the film improves drastically after Margo departs. With our “deep” vixen out of the picture, Paper Towns becomes a road trip film that gets to the beating heart of friendship. For those of you who have not read the book, the story centers around Q, another wallflower type from yet another coming-of-age story, as he pines for his one true love Margo, the captivating girl next door. Q (Wolff) and Margo (Delevingne) were childhood friends, but have since been pulled apart by the social hierarchy of high school. Margo’s larger than life persona has vaulted her to the front of the pack, while Q is happiest remaining unnoticed with his two best pals, Ben (Austin Abrams) and Radar (Justice Smith). | Director: Jake Schreier Starring: Nat Wolff, Cara Delevingne, Cara Buono Writers: Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber |
The story begins with Margo tapping on Q’s window one night, hoping to recruit him on a revenge spree which Margo has ordained “the best night of his life.” They take some blackmail pics, wrap a car in cellophane, break into some houses, shave off an eyebrow, leave some sticky notes, and tag big blue M’s everywhere. Sure enough, Q is inspired by the night and Margo’s adventurous spirit, though this does not last long. The next morning, Margo goes missing. Being the pixie dream girl she is, Margo leaves clues all over town that Q interprets as another one of her games, an elaborate game of hide-and-seek-and-profess-your-love.
This is the point in the film where Paper Towns ceases to be a drag and begins to really take shape. With the patronizing, demeaning, and pretentious Margo out of the way, we finally begin to see what this story is all about: friendship. Credit goes to director Jake Schreier (Robot & Frank) and screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber (500 Days of Summer, The Fault in Our Stars) for knowing where priorities lie. The obvious Hollywood move would have been to make the story all above Q and Margo, but the filmmakers know where Green was going when he dedicated the bulk of his story to an East Coast road trip.
Introduced in earlier scenes as one-note BFF’s, Ben, Radar, Lacey (Halston Sage), and Angela (Jaz Sinclair) come to life in the journey scene. Schreier lets them relax, shoot the bull, and even get out some of their frustrations. When Ben tells Q that Margo does not deserve him, you can pretty much here an “Amen” echo throughout the theater. I think the filmmakers agree with this sentiment. Because of that, I was able to look past many of the film’s mediocrities and enjoy it for the forgettable piece of coming-of-age fun that it is.
This is the point in the film where Paper Towns ceases to be a drag and begins to really take shape. With the patronizing, demeaning, and pretentious Margo out of the way, we finally begin to see what this story is all about: friendship. Credit goes to director Jake Schreier (Robot & Frank) and screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber (500 Days of Summer, The Fault in Our Stars) for knowing where priorities lie. The obvious Hollywood move would have been to make the story all above Q and Margo, but the filmmakers know where Green was going when he dedicated the bulk of his story to an East Coast road trip.
Introduced in earlier scenes as one-note BFF’s, Ben, Radar, Lacey (Halston Sage), and Angela (Jaz Sinclair) come to life in the journey scene. Schreier lets them relax, shoot the bull, and even get out some of their frustrations. When Ben tells Q that Margo does not deserve him, you can pretty much here an “Amen” echo throughout the theater. I think the filmmakers agree with this sentiment. Because of that, I was able to look past many of the film’s mediocrities and enjoy it for the forgettable piece of coming-of-age fun that it is.