The time is finally here for the book-to-movie premiere of “The Fault in Our Stars,” and I’m sure the fans of the book, like myself, are overjoyed.
I am going to make the synopsis short and sweet and spoiler-free. This is the story of a 16-year-old girl named Hazel Grace Lancaster. Hazel has an incurable cancer but has miraculously survived past her expected life span. She meets Augustus Waters, a cancer survivor, at a support group. The book is driven by the relationship that develops between Hazel and Augustus, stemming from their illnesses and their mutual love of a book.
If you have yet to read this book, I suggest that you do so before you see the movie. Once you finish it, I’m sure there will be plenty of things –– favorite scenes, lines and moments –– you hope make it to the big screen. However, when trying to condense an entire novel into a 125-minute film, some things will inevitably be edited and changed, and some lost completely on the cutting room floor.
Here are four things from my “TFiOS”-adaptation wishlist:
1) First, I want to forget that Ansel Elgort, who plays Augustus, also plays Shailene Woodley’s brother in “Divergent.” It’s clear that the casting directors didn’t pull any muscles when they picked the same two actors to play brother and sister in one film and star-crossed lovers in the other, but if the actors become Hazel and Augustus, it should not be an issue.
2) I want the movie to make me cry. I cry at everything (this is not an exaggeration) and yet I somehow managed to cry less than I thought I would when reading “The Fault in Our Stars.” I assume it is because of how strong Hazel, the narrator, is throughout the book. I hope that in the movie format I am better able to relate and understand the pain of all of the characters.
3) I want to see that look in Elgort’s eyes every time Augustus says, “Hazel Grace.” The look that someone has when they are looking at someone that they love unconditionally.
4) Finally, I want all of the little things to be there. I wish I could go into more detail and describe every part of the book without spoiling it, but unfortunately I cannot. What I will say is that this book explains the way life is unfair sometimes and the little things, like in life, are what it is all about.