With a lopsided and goofy grin, the pouty-lipped Gus is more approachable than the book’s blue-eyed hunk he really could be the boy next door.
#PUBLISHER OF THE FAULT IN OUR STARS MOVIE MOVIE#
But that exchange doesn’t stop him from asking her to come over and watch a movie with him, right then and there. In a moment of group sharing, their two philosophical approaches toward death conflict: he fears disappearing into oblivion, while Hazel, much more pragmatic, believes oblivion is inevitable-even Cleopatra or Muhammad Ali will be forgotten at some point, she says. Gus has been osteosarcoma-free for the last 14 months, and his right leg has been amputated below the knee. There, she “meets-cute” Gus, bumping into him on the way to her first session. She spends her days at the doctor’s, community college, and at home watching reality shows at her well-meaning mother’s urging, she begrudgingly attends a local cancer support group. Now, because of excessive fluid in her lungs, she’s attached to an oxygen tank. Seventeen-year-old Hazel was diagnosed with thyroid cancer at 13. The movie honors the spirit of Green’s characters without hitting the audience over the head with sentimentality. In her opening voice-over, the heroine Hazel Grace Lancaster-the ever dependable Shailene Woodley-promises that her story isn’t going to play out like a typical movie “where beautiful people learn beautiful lessons." Instead, she vows, “This is the truth.” That statement of purpose is also somewhat true of the film adaptation of John Green’s tear duct-busting YA hit novel The Fault in Our Stars(Dutton, 2012), about two precocious teens, Hazel and Gus (played by Ansel Elgort) with cancer who fall in love with each other-and one of them has a stage-IV diagnosis. Gus and Hazel are two teens who meet in a cancer support group. The Fault in Our Stars is available now on all home media.įor more film reviews from a Christian perspective, connect with Reel Gospel on Facebook and Twitter. Why not hire this out and speak with your friends about death, and what a life well-lived now might look like. The meaning that Jesus gives us in this life can’t be taken away by sickness, and unlike any other meaning or purpose, lasts beyond death into life eternal.
He blesses us each and every day in ways we can never realise, and gives us the promise that we will be raised and live eternally with him.
But it also says that a life well-lived now is one that is lived for Jesus. To those who trust in Jesus, sickness and suffering will happen. To them, life is fleeting, life is messed up, and life is to be lived now. There’s a scene that’s very Ferris Bueller’s Day Off where the pair and their mate decide to take out frustration by hurling eggs at somebody’s house. They want to live it up now, because soon the end will arrive. Hazel Grace and Augustus have a similar take on life. In Ecclesiastes 2:1-9, Solomon writes all of his life achievements: building houses and reservoirs, and amassing great wealth – but he concludes that everything was meaningless because he can’t take it with him when he dies. This idea is also explored in the Bible, where Solomon dwells on his own life in the book of Ecclesiastes. The pair recognise that life is fleeting.
How do we make the most the short, finite time we have on earth? There’s no doubt that this film is about death, but rather than dwelling on what follows our time on earth, The Fault in our Stars asks how we best live now. There are twists and turns and if you haven’t seen the film yet (or read the original novel by John Green) it would be worth your while avoiding spoilers. I found the detour to Amsterdam and Hazel’s obsession with the ending of a novel distracting, however I understand that it was one thing giving her purpose in her short life. The relationship of the pair blossoms and for the most part of the film they are almost too perfect for each other conflict is withheld until the film’s later acts. Woodley (as always) is marvellous as Hazel Grace, and masters the breathlessness of her character so much that I found myself gasping for air at points. Augustus keeps an unlit cigarette in his mouth to remind himself that he has power over death. Hazel Grace isn’t the typical girl next door – she keeps an oxygen tube up her nose and drags a tank with her everywhere. This is a teen romance with a difference.
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