Comment

Nov 19, 2016
The film centers on a 17-year-old teenage girl named Hazel who was diagnosed with stage-4 thyroid cancer at age 13. Thanks to an experimental drug Hazel's cancer is in remission, but she must be on supplemental oxygen due to lung damage. Hazel has an infectious, upbeat personality, but incredibly the film portrays her as having no friends. Her mother, played by Laura Dern, pushes Hazel to join a cancer support group, where she meets another cancer survivor, Gus, an 18-year-old leg amputee with whom she reluctantly falls in love. She persuades Gus to read a book of fiction that has obsessed her -- a book that ends in mid-sentence. This ending so haunts Hazel that she yearns to find the author and discuss the ending. Gus locates the author, who is living as a recluse in Amsterdam, and they arrange a trip to visit him. To their dismay, however, the author is a anti-social alcoholic who rudely dismisses their questions. Later, when Gus succumbs to cancer, however, the author attends the funeral, and attempts to make amends with Hazel. Unfortunately, Hazel treats the author's attempt to reach out with the same rudeness he previously treated her. There it is. Sappy, unrealistic, predictable and disappointing. But thanks to Shailene Woodley's performance as Hazel the film may bring tears to your eyes.