Thoughts from Paper Towns

Because I’m currently in Australia, I was able to see Paper Towns on Tuesday 21^st July, about 3 days before it gets released in most other places. Yay for Australia!

I wasn’t actually anticipating seeing this film in cinemas at all; apart from the fact that I am out and about backpacking in the Southern hemisphere, I was underwhelmed by The Fault in Our Stars. However, a cheap Tuesday cinema deal and some free time allowed me to pop in and take a peek – something I’m glad I did.

It’s worth noting that Paper Towns is a far more cinematic novel than TFIOS. It’s fun, and funny, and mysterious, and on top of all that it has a great little roadtrip.

[Warning: contains very mild spoilers. But given it’s an adaptation, that shouldn’t be too much of a problem…]

Some thoughts, which I aired on Twitter:

• The score is EPIC. It’s less poppy than TFIOS, which I like – but it’s not completely cinematic. At one point I swore that the orchestral score merged with some kick-ass dubsteppy stuff. It was great. And when songs did appear – Falling by Haim and (what I believe to be) re:stacks by Bon Iver– they really, really worked.
• It deals with themes like a sledgehammer. This is really my only criticism; it’s not exactly subtle. Wolff provides a voiceover throughout, but it’s his final summary of why he and Margo could never be that really kills it.
• ANSEL ELGORT HAS A CAMEO.
• A lot of it is really how I pictured in when I read the novel way back when. There’s a lot that isn’t visually similar – the car for example – but I’m surprised by how accurately it did visualise the same. Not that it particularly matters. Just sayin….
• Austin Abrams steals the show as Ben (he is a really, really convincing drunk) and Justice Smith is a very charming shy Radar. Casting really was spot on; Delevigne was pretty damn awesome too. And I think she nailed the accent. I think.

In case you can’t tell, I really enjoyed it. It’s very fun, and even though it’s really unsubtle, it’s a great little film. Go see it.