COMING of age has spawned some notable films. Scott Neustadter’s adaptation of John Green’s novel gives director Jake Schreier fresh elements that lift it above the pack.
Before puberty, Quentin and Margo are close chums. At high school, the closeness dissolves, leaving Quentin (Nat Wolff) with Ben (Austin Abrams) and Radar (Justice Smith) as his only buddies.
In graduation year, Margo (Cara Delevingne) unexpectedly re-enters Quentin’s life. She needs help to execute a wonderfully-complex vengeance against the boy who’s cheating on her. Then she disappears again.
End-of-year approaches with partying at which Ben pals up with Lacy (Halston Sage) and Radar with Angela (Jaz Sinclair). From clues left by Margo, the five figure out she’s in a paper town, a fiction that publishers of road maps insert to identify pirates who publish without undertaking expensive cartography. Armed with enthusiasm, optimism and credit cards, they set off in Quentin’s mom’s SUV from Jacksonville, Florida, to upstate New York.
Is resolution of this situation predictable? Well, yes and no. Suffice it to say that Lucy agrees to go to the prom with Ben, Radar and Angela exchange virginities, Quentin learns a useful lesson and Margo earns our respect.
The almost exclusively teenaged audience, with whom I watched the film, gave every indication of comprehending its underlying issues and esteeming the film’s treatment of them. Despite enduring a few clichés, so did I. Did I like it? That’s not a qualification for this job.
At Dendy, Capitol 6, Hoyts and Limelight
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