The Fault In Our Stars – *****

Well, that time is fast upon us. Perhaps the biggest movie of the summer will be released on Friday, and we haven’t even hit the summer solstice yet. For the uninitiated, The Fault In Our Stars is a beautifully poignant, yet ultimately heart-wrenching, adaptation of John Green’s bestselling novel. The overwhelmingly massive fanbase of the novel will be more than pleased with the fact that it is near verbatim from the book, besides some minor alterations in the third act. Otherwise, it is completely faithful to the source material, including a majority of its key dialogue.

TFIOS, as its affectionately called among the fan community, is a modern-day take on Shakespeare’s timeless masterpiece, Romeo & Juliet. However, in this tale, the star-crossed lovers are embattled by each of their own forms of cancer, as opposed to feuding Montagues and Capulets. Hazel Grace Lancaster (Shailene Woodley) is a typical, bookish teenager, except for the fact that she suffers from both thyroid, and subsequently, lung cancer. The latter of which has caused her to carry a portable oxygen tank around with her wherever she goes. As part of her prescribed treatment and with persistent nagging from her mother (played wonderfully by Laura Dern), she attends a weekly Cancer Support Group, which meets at a church that is in the Literal Heart of Jesus.

During one such meeting, she is introduced to the charismatic Agustus Waters (Ansel Elgort), or Gus for short. She is instantly attracted to him, especially once he proclaims that his greatest fear is “oblivion”, meaning that he wants to pass on knowing that he has left some kind of significant legacy upon the world, which is something most of us aspire to. It is quite rare to see someone as young as Gus who is so eloquent and witty. He is certainly not the typical teen heartthrob.

And while Gus is only there for his friend, Isaac (Nat Wolff), he once had osteosarcoma but has since been in remission. After Hazel’s surprising rebuttal, Gus is equally infatuated with Hazel as well. As they strike up a conversation while waiting outside for their rides, Gus unabashedly calls Hazel “beautiful”, and from there we’re off to the races.

Their intense romance moves along at an impressive clip, as seen through cute, floating text messages and phone calls, or even just how Gus always calls her “Hazel Grace” instead of just “Hazel”. But what creates the strongest bond between them is when they each share their personal favorite books (both fictional). For Hazel, it’s An Imperial Affliction, a book about, ironically enough, a child with cancer. And Gus gives Hazel his copy of CounterInsurgency 2: The Prince of Dawn, which is a sci-fi war story based on a video game he and Isaac enjoy playing daily.

As Gus is totally enamored with everything about Hazel, he gladly reads through AIA, and empathizes with Hazel when he reaches the end and has all the same questions she does. She then confides in him that she has written the author, Peter Van Houten (William Dafoe), numerous times, but has never received a response.

Secretly, Gus takes the initiative to track down the author himself. After a while, he does in fact receive a brief email back from Van Houten via his personal assistant, Lidewij (Lotte Verbeek). He says that he will not discuss what happens beyond the ending, except in person, for fear it may be distributed publicly. Gus then shares it with Hazel, who is ecstatic, and they both interpret it as an open invitation to Amsterdam.

As a child with cancer, they are allowed a Genie Wish (a la the Make-A-Wish Foundation). However, Hazel had already spent her wish when she was younger on a trip to Disney World. Gus jokingly chastises her for foolishly wasting her wish on something so cliche. But as Gus has wisely saved his Wish, he sets up an elaborate date with Hazel and informs her that he is taking her to Amsterdam so that she can meet her idol in person, and receive the answers she was desperately waiting to know ever since she first read AIA.

Although some complications arise, eventually the young couple are set to go to the Netherlands. They explore the beautiful and historic canals of the city on a romantic evening. The next day, they head out to meet Van Houten. Unfortunately, the visit is not what they were hoping for. Hazel and Gus will not let that spoil their literal trip of a lifetime.

Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort absolutely illuminate throughout. Director Josh Boone does an incredible job adapting the novel. Warning: Remember to bring some tissues! TFIOS is the epitome of “tearjerker”. It is doubtful that there will be one dry eye in the theaters by the time the end credits roll. But as they say, there is catharsis in letting it out. Watching this, the audience will definitely do just that. Fans of the novel will definitely not be disappointed!

Divergent – ****

Divergent is an exciting introduction to the worldwide, best-selling, young adult series of the same name. It draws immediate comparisons to The Hunger Games. And although there are quite a few similarities, there are also equally as many differences that separate them apart.

Certainly, many will claim that it is just capitalizing on the groundbreaking successes of The Hunger Games, but the same can be said of the so-called “Twilight clones”. Of course, it is always best (in this reviewer’s humble opinion, anyway) to judge each piece of work (whether film, music, tv show, or even video game) on its own particular merits.

In Divergent’s universe, citizens are divided into five different factions based on human traits upon turning of age, 16: Erudite – intelligent (the thinkers), Dauntless – brave (military & security), Candor – honest (lawyers & judges), Amity – peaceful (farmers), Abnegation – selfless (politicians). To determine which faction each person will ultimately join, they each must undergo what amounts to a sadistic version of the SATs, involving psychological drug use that induces hallucinations and severe mental trauma.

After successfully passing the ‘assessment’, one must decide to either stay with their family’s faction, or select another faction to join. In this case, it differs from The Hunger Games, since candidates have choice over where they go. In contrast, in The Hunger Games, Katniss and her competitors have no choice whatsoever, and are subject to fate alone.

Beatrice Prior’s (Shailene Woodley) family is in Abnegation, so have dedicated their lives to serving others, while her father is a member of the council. She, however, has different plans for herself, and decides to join the Dauntless faction during the Choosing Ceremony instead, seeking a more adventurous life.

The initiates are still not through, though. They must first prove themselves through further trials and psychological examinations before they can be accepted as full-fledged members of their new factions. If they fail, they will become ‘factionless’, which is essentially ‘homeless’, and will be exiled from all of the factions. After the first heart-stopping test, they are allowed to choose their own names. Beatrice chooses “Tris”. It’s interesting to note how close this sounds to “Katniss” of The Hunger Games trilogy.

Tris continues her rigorous training with the rambunctious Dauntless, doing her best to keep from washing out, and becoming a lost faction-less. During the preparation for her final exam, yet another round of dangerous psychotropic drugging, she discovers from Tori (Maggie Q), who administers the drugs, that she is actually in fact a Divergent, meaning that she is endowed with traits from all of the factions. She does not fit neatly into any of the society’s prescribed categories.

This is especially dangerous, because the Erudite faction, lead by the ruthless Jeanine (Kate Winslet), are planning a massive coup d’etat to overtake governmental control from the Abnegation. Jeanine believes that as the most intelligent faction, they should also hold all of the power. Tris and her allies must prevent Jeanine from succeeding. 

Shailene Woodley, quickly becoming Hollywood’s darling, gives a powerful performance as Tris/Beatrice. She is remarkable in softly quiet scenes, as well as full-blown action sequences. Her mentor and love interest, Four (Theo James) does well, too, and gives her the room to fly (quite literally) on her own two wings. The supporting cast is wonderful as well, especially her mother, Natalie, (Ashley Judd) and Tori. It is also somewhat amusing that one of her biggest bullies, Peter (Miles Teller) is her lover from last year’s indie hit, The Spectacular Now.

Divergent is a fun, springtime popcorn film that is significantly lighter fare than the last of the Oscar season entries. And the ending nicely sets up the next chapter in the series.