The Fault in Our Stars Movie Thoughts!

To say I was nervous about seeing the movie adaptation of The Fault in Our Stars is an understatement. This book was very special to me when it came out because our main girl, Hazel, suffers from thyroid cancer like I did when I was her age! I prepared myself by re-reading the book before the movie came out, and when I started crying at the end, I knew that I was in for a 2 hour block of chest pains in the theater. Naturally, I rounded up my boyfriend and warned him that he should be ready to cry. I also gathered my tissues because duh. The two hours of the movie went exactly as I expected. A lot of tears slipping loose, and a sore jaw from clenching my teeth so I wouldn't bust out into ugly cries in public.

What I Loved: 
1) This adaptation stayed so faithful to the book it's insane. I was super surprised by how on point this movie was compared to the book. Since I had just re-read the book, I had all of Augustus' witty remarks fresh in my brain, and I embarrassingly found myself whispering along when he said, "I'm on a roller coaster that only goes up, my friend." A lot of the dialogue was quoted word for word from the book, which was fabulous because there's a lot of good stuff in the book.

2) Ansel Elgort. The last time I did a movie thoughts post, it was on Divergent and the most I had to say about Ansel Elgort was that I appreciated his awkward running. Given the fact that Augustus has a prosthetic leg, there was no awkward running, but Elgort gave much more to appreciate in this role. I was charmed by him. Not only is he super cute, he delivered Augustus' musings and flirtations perfectly. He made me laugh multiple times, swoon multiple times, and cry over his heartbreaking acting during the G-Tube incident. Shailene Woodley was also a wonderful Hazel. She's very expressive, and sometimes her face said more than her words.

3) The inclusion of technology. A lot of Gus and Hazel's conversations happen via text message in the book, and there are the e-mails exchanged between Van Houten and the two of them. I thought the little pop-ups were totally cute and a fun way to include the technological aspect of their relationship into the movie.

4) Like the book, I like the way the film realistically approaches teens with cancer/going through tough shit in general. One of my favorite parts about TFIOS is that it's a story about teens with cancer that can be loved by teens who have/had cancer. I liked that the movie included real life cancer survivors in the support group, and how Hazel and Augustus don't always feel like they have to put on a strong face, which is something that's typically expected of people dealing with cancer. I also really, really loved seeing Isaac's character come to life. His heartbroken trophy breaking was spot on, and I felt super triumphant when he nails his ex-girlfriends car with a bunch of eggs!

What I Didn't Love As Much [SPOILERS AHEAD]: 

• A lot of Augustus' illness was greatly condensed. In the book, we see a lot of really rough moments. The showed the G-Tube infection, which was perfectly executed. We don't see him piss the bed or watch his sense of humor go dark. I liked that the book went there, and was slightly disappointed that the movie didn't take us to that place either. Hollywood probably figured that if they included any more TOUGH STUFF, theaters all across America would be flooded with tears. 
• I didn't hate Van Houten in the movie as much as I did in the book. This is another moment where the film was trying to protect the viewers, I think, as Van Houten says some truly despicable things when Hazel and Gus go to meet him. He gets a couple jabs in, but not as much as in the book. Also, I really like seeing his assistant RESIGN, and then take Gus and Hazel to the Anne Frank house. In the film, his assistant is clearly flustered, but does not take that extra step. 
• No scars. After reading the book, where Hazel mentions having a radical neck dissection, I always pictured her having scars similar to mine. I won't tell you to Google image search it, because it's pretty gnarly, but thyroid surgery almost always leaves a scar, at least a little one. I do think it's awesome that she has her nasal cannula, but I was disappointed at the lack of scars for largely personal reasons. 

So yeah, I was super freaking happy with how The Fault in Our Stars was adapted to the big screen. It was practically quoted word for word, and Ansel Elgort nearly charmed the pants off of me with his brilliant portrayal of Augustus Waters. Shailene Woodley also broke my heart and made me laugh and I cried so many tears. LUCKILY, I was able to contain my ugly cry, and when I peeked over at my boyfriend, I definitely noticed some misty eyes. This movie made a grown man with a big ol' beard cry, so I think that's saying something :) 

Have you seen TFIOS yet? Are you planning on?