Paper Towns is a movie that came out on July 24, 2015, and it is an adaptation of the book by the same name written by John Green. John Green is the same writer who wrote the teen novel fault in our stars. I watched Paper Towns this week after my sister finished reading the book and as usual, she complained that the book is better. It has been said to lost most of the emotional depth in the movie but it still captures the audience with its light-hearted humour, and emotions and makes you think about your life choices.
Quentin (Nat Wolff) has always loved Margo (Cara Delevingne) since she moved across the street from them when they were little. They went on to become best of friends but they grew apart by the time they got to high school. In high school, Margo started hanging out with the in-crowd and Quentin started hanging out with his nerdy new best friends. His friends are Ben (Austin Abrams) and Radar (Justice Smith).
When Margo and Quentin were young they used to go for bike rides and they once found a man lying dead under a tree by a lake. He had committed suicide because of a divorce. Quentin did not want to be involved at all because he did not know the person. Margo loved the mystery and she really wanted to get the story behind the dead man. This time, Quentin refused to go on the adventure.
When they were in high school Margo turned up at Quentin’s window inviting him for an adventure that had nine things to be done. They had an amazing night pranking people while revenging for the wrongs done to her. The following morning she vanishes. She has always left but left clues behind for her little sister, this time she always left clues for Quentin and he went out to follow her. The clues were only her way of showing the people she cared about that she is okay.
The supporting characters are also very good, especially Radar who is funny more times than not. He delivers these lines at the right exact moment and in a very deadpan manner. He is actually one of the few people who light up a scene.
Five lessons I learnt from the movie
1. Get out of your comfort zone
There is one quote said by Margo that really made me think a lot. “Your comfort zone is right here (too small) all the things you want are way out there. “ We tend to be satisfied by what we know and what we are used to. We are reluctant to try new things and this way we lose out on a lot in life. Life is meant to be explored and lived to the fullest.
2. Don’t fall in love with the idea of a person
Sometimes people fall in love with a person because of what they think the person is. They do not care to find out who the person really is. This causes a lot of disappointments and heartbreak when you get to know the person and what they or want for their life.
3. Don’t judge a book by its cover
It is a teen movie and also shows how teens judge and then judge some more. In one of the scenes, we can see Lacey Pemberton (Halston Sage) asking Quentin what is the first word that comes to mind when she looks at her. He replied pretty and she was angry because that is what everyone thinks she is. No one sees beyond that. No one has ever thought of her as smart despite the fact that she was accepted to Dartmouth.
4. Everyone gets a miracle
The movie starts by Quentin saying that he believes that everyone gets a miracle. This is true, it does not have to be winning the 20 million on Sportpesa but it can be getting your first job right after college. It can also be getting a spouse who loves you unconditionally and having a healthy family all year round. The small miracles in life give us much more to anticipate.
5. True friendship is irreplaceable
When you find true friends you find family. They are always there for when you want to be goofy, or serious or when in need of a shoulder to cry on. They will basically be there all the time and sometimes more than family. They are basically too awesome and they will make your life a little less stressful.
Story by: John Green
Release date: July 24, 2015
Director: Jake Schreier
Writers: John Green (author), Scott Neustadter (screenplay)
Stars: Nat Wolff, Cara Delevingne, Austin Abrams
Rating: PG-13
Running time: 1h 53m
Movie Review: 5 Reasons Why The Lion King Live Action Remake Was A Flop
