Review: Paper Towns

Quentin (Nat Wolff) used to be friends with his neighbour Margo (Cara Delevingne) when they were kids. High school has seen them run in completely different circles and barely talk to one another, though it’s obvious Quentin harbours feelings for the impossibly cool, non-conformist Margo. However, one night in their final year of school Margo climbs through Quentin’s bedroom window needing to use his car in order to get back at her cheating ex. He agrees and they have a great night together, even though he’s almost as nerdy and reserved as she is rebellious and impulsive. However, the next morning at school, Margo is absent. In fact, days go by without a sign of her, though her parents don’t seem as concerned as Quentin, saying it’s what she always does. Even the cops don’t seem to care much. However, Quentin starts to uncover clues that he believes Margo has left pertaining to her whereabouts. He sees it as his mission to follow the clues and find her. Despite being a bit of a rule-follower, Quentin also enlists the reluctant aid of his buddies (played by Austin Abrams and Justice Smith) to track the elusive Margo down. Halston Sage plays Lacey, a friend of Margo’s whom Abrams’ dorky Bud has the hots for. Jaz Sinclair plays the girlfriend of Justice Smith’s Radar, who for some reason tries to keep her away from his friends.

 

Easily one of the better teen movies of recent years, this 2015 adaptation of a John Green novel from director Jake Schreier (the uneven “Robot & Frank”) reminds one a little bit of the more serious moments in John Hughes’ teen movies of the 80s. Scripted by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber (writers of the unlikeable “The Spectacular Now” and the popular weepie “The Fault in Our Stars”), it’s a little predictable, but a cool idea for a story if you ask me. Basically it’s about a kid breaking out of his comfort zone in order to track down the dream girl he thinks is sending him clues to her whereabouts. Is she really doing that? Is she actively trying to get him to live a little? You’ll have to watch the film (or read the book, I suppose) to see.

 

There’s some funny moments, but it’s the serious stuff that appealed more to me, serious without being pretentious or gloomy (Nor is it aiming to be terribly realistic, either. There’s a bit of teen fantasy to it and the film’s title is a conceit from the original author himself that isn’t really based on reality). It’s also a really likeable film with the three best friends in particular being a lot of fun to be around and well-acted. Lead actor Nat Wolff does pretty well as a modern equivalent of say a young Patrick Dempsey/William Ragsdale/Zach Galligan. He’s good enough and likeable enough that you really want things to work out for him. Austin Abrams is even better as Wolff’s Stephen Geoffreys-ish weirdo best friend. This kid is such a hilariously delusional moron, but there’s enough of a human being underneath that you end up liking him, too.

 

The one casting problem, and indeed my only problem with the whole film is Cara Delevingne. I’m totally on her side with that incident with the insipid and frankly rude American morning show hosts (who apparently don’t understand dry sarcasm) that got her some unwarranted bad press during publicity for this film. However, she’s just not the right fit for this character in the slightest. It isn’t just her rather harsh looks (she’s a model after all, so she’s not unattractive), it’s more that she isn’t an actress and isn’t right for this specific role. Sure, I haven’t read the book, I get that, but I bet those who did probably got pissed off with her casting (Apparently the author disagrees with me, though, so there you go). I understand that she’s meant to be playing a slightly flighty, unattainable character, but Delevingne has little warmth or relatability to her, making it hard for one to really understand what all the fuss is about. To get right down to it, this is the kind of role that in the 80s would’ve gone to Jennifer Connelly or Ione Skye. Now, if you know those two actresses, does Delevingne seem akin to them? Nope. She’s slightly unpleasant, a little scary, and a whole lotta miscast. It’s not a fatal flaw, but this is a film that I really wanted to love, and this one poor piece of casting is what holds me back. Everything else works, including an excellent music score by Ryan Lott that reminded me a tad of “Risky Business”. In fact, the film is at its best once her character goes missing. I kinda get why she was cast, as she has a slightly ethereal, mysterious quality to her, but I would’ve gone with someone a little more ingratiating. Her character is genuinely interesting, but Delevingne herself is very hard to warm to here. I was on Delevingne’s side during her infamous morning show interview (those hosts were douche nozzles of the highest order), but there’s no doubt that on-screen she does give off a grumpy vibe. Much more appealing is Halston Sage playing her best friend Lacey, whose character proves far more likeable than at first glance.

 

I bet the novel is even better, but this film is really appealing and interesting. It has a certain almost melancholic mood to it that makes it stand out a bit (though it’s not quite in the league of “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”), without getting too serious or mopey that it’s off-putting or forgetting to be funny as well. Certainly one of the better teen movies of late, the cast are mostly very appealing, the general concept is clever and interesting, and I had a much better time than I had anticipated.

2022 update: Re-watching the film and...I'm actually fine with Cara. Her performance is actually solid, and I didn't find her miscast this time around. I think it's more that she's not my personal preference for such a role and that's not the right way to look at things. She works just fine. My bad. 

 

Rating: B-