I finally watched Paper Towns and thought I'd share my thoughts on it. I haven't read the book but the movie looked fun. And with Suicide Squad coming up I was mildly curious to see Cara Delavinge in a role prior to that. I thought the movie did a good job capturing the uncertainty and angst of the teenage years and the end of high school. Like most teen movies it was over the top and unrealistic- could the guys have been any more geeky- but for the most part it was good. I thought the movie was entertaining and funny at times and for the most part it worked.
I had a lot of freedom as a kid so I could relate to Margo's adventurousness. I did think Quentin was a bit naive or something for eighteen but maybe that's just me. The pranks were pretty elaborate and I didn't think that was very realistic (I mean breaking and entering someone's house? Seriously) I did like how as the night went on Quentin got more daring- as much as he was crushing on Margo it made sense to me that he would take more chances. And once Margo disappeared I'm not sure I buy them going on a thousand mile trip to find her- I can't see the parents going for that.
I thought the guys were okay but the pace of the movie picked up immeasurably when Lacey and Angela joined the crew. They made the road trip fun and Lacey was probably the most interesting character to me. The pretty girl who is more than that and becomes friends with the guys based solely on their mutual affection for Margo. That worked for me.
Paper Towns is worth seeing if you're not expecting too much. It's not a great movie but it's good enough. I thought the movie was fun and I'm glad I got to see it.
I was literally just thinking earlier today, have any of the people who write shows/movies/books about high school ever actually been to high school? Because they're always so over-the-top lol. But I feel like it works better in movies than in books. Or maybe I just have different expectations for the two. Anyway, I haven't seen this and don't actually know what it's about since I haven't read the book either, but Lacey does sound like a great character, and I'm glad you enjoyed the movie :-)
ReplyDeleteI know, they never seem to get it right. :) I thought Lacey was a great character in this one because SHE seemed like someone who could actually be a high school student, in terms of what she goes through in the movie. More or less anyway.
DeleteI am glad to see this because I just DVRed this. I liked the book but the movie looks well done. Glad to hear it wasn't awful!
ReplyDeleteI hope you like it. I didn't think it was awful, definitely, it's worth seeing it's just not great, you know? lol
DeleteIt's always crazy when I watch or read books about high school students and they're doing stuff like going on 1000 mile journeys. I think as a parent I'd have to put a stop to that! The pranks do sound a little extreme as well. I know the biggest stuff my kids ever did was painting car windows completely over with that car window paint or filling cars with balloons and stuff like that. Not so much on the actual crimes!
ReplyDeleteI know, like the minivan belongs to his mom and he just takes it on a 1000 mile road trip. Doesn't even tell her as far as I know, or if he does it's off screen. they just go. :) Okaay then...
DeleteWe goofed around as kids but nothing like this, so it was over the top in that sense. :) Typical teen movie, but it's not bad.
Paper Towns is my favorite book by John Green because of the theme of imagining other people complexly, but I always wondered whether translating that into a movie would work since it's fairly introspective, so I haven't watched the movie yet. I'm glad you found some things you liked though! I think I'll give it a chance at some point. :)
ReplyDeleteI hope it's true to the book although I haven't read it. I thought it was a pretty good movie. Thought provoking.
DeleteI haven't read this book either, but I am thinking about watching the movie. Great review, I could totally see your point about driving 1,000 miles to find someone...what?
ReplyDeleteSame here, I didn't really feel drawn to the book, but the movie looked good? And yeah it was a little unrealistic... but not bad.
DeleteI might have to watch this one sometime. We'll see. I didn't really care for the book, but maybe the movie will be different. I'm glad you liked it!
ReplyDeleteThe movie was okay, not the best thing ever but if you're bored it's not a bad watch. I liked some of the characters.
DeleteI agree with you- good movie, not mind blowing or anything though. I LOVED the side characters- all of them. The dorky guys and the girls. I didn't like Margo (not in the book, and not in the movie- actually I am not a huge fan of Cara Delevingne overall) and I definitely liked Movie Q less than Book Q. But I enjoyed it- it was fun, even if it wasn't terribly realistic. I kind of like the "grand gesture", so I like reading/watching about it, even if it doesn't generally happen in life. Glad that you mostly liked it :D
ReplyDeleteI completely forgot that they made this one into a movie! I haven't read the book yet. I'll probably skip seeing this, but might eventually get around to reading the book. Glad you generally liked this one.
ReplyDeleteI find that John Green's books piss me off. I loved The Fault in Our Stars, though it killed me, but Paper Towns made me swear off his books. The book was pretty good, but then Margo ruined everything for me. I hated her, and the ending. I won't go into it, because SPOILERS, but I'm sure anyone who's read it can figure out why. When I bought Paper Towns I also bought Looking for Alaska, and now I probably won't read it. Maybe one day when I forget how angry this book made me.
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