If there's one thing Hollywood never tires of, it's films about the high school experience. Paper Towns continues that tradition in an entertaining albeit predictable manner with a few twists to set it apart from the crowd.
Director Jake Schreier (Robot & Frank) helms the second adaptation of a John Green novel after the overwhelming success of Green's first adaptation The Fault in Our Stars. While that film tackled heavier subject matters inherent in a film about two kids with cancer, Paper Towns (thankfully) handles lighter fare. The film centers on Quentin or Q (Nat Wolff). Along with his two best friends, Radar (Justice Smith) and Ben (Austin Abrams), Q is winding down his senior year having spent high school under the radar, fully focused on his ten year plan of becoming a doctor. It isn't until his childhood best friend, neighbor, and lifelong crush Margo Roth Spiegelman (Cara Delevingne) sneaks into his room one night that he starts to see what he's been missing out on. Unfortunately, the next morning after their all night adventure Margo goes missing, and Q is determined to find her.
Most of the film feels pretty unoriginal. Dorky boy in love with popular girl is "woken up" when she comes into his life. Infatuated, he becomes determined to "save her", taking on a sort of hero complex and finding himself in the process. This character trope has usually been called the "manic pixie dream girl". One of its most famous examples is Zooey Deschanel's character in (500) Days of Summer. As it progresses and Q goes on a road trip with his friends to find Margo, their camaraderie and chemistry open up the film to more enjoyable scenes. Most everyone can relate to driving around with friends from high school.
However, while I spent much of the first half bored with the film's unoriginality, I truly appreciated what it tried to say in the second half. Once Q and his friends reach their destination, everything is not as Q has imagined. The subsequent crash back to reality leads to an important message about the dangers of placing anyone on a pedestal. While refreshing, it's told in a clunky manner that feels too rushed. It's a message that ends up feeling recited instead of realized. Plus, the manic pixie dream girl feels like a trope that's been analyzed to death. While going against the trope might have been fresh in 2009 when the novel came out, it feels pretty late to the game in 2015.
While Paper Towns is an enjoyable little flick, it has none of the epic dialogue and melodrama of The Fault in Our Stars. However, seeing as John Green has a way with teenagers, I wouldn't be surprised if teens responded to the film in droves. And as a fan of John Hughes, I wouldn't mind seeing Green become the Hughes of this generation. With his other novel Looking for Alaska already in pre-production and a producer's credit on this film, I'd say that he's well on his way.
