The Fault in Our Stars 2014

Wesley Morris, Grantland: There's a moment when the breeziness powering the story goes away and medical reality takes over, and Elgort's performance goes to a surprising new place. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: In the second half, with the forced jauntiness largely foregone, the movie takes a deep breath and realizes it's nobler to be an effective formula drama than a wan comedy. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: There's a lot of religious inspiration in the film I could do without, but the characters seem as real as inhaling. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: What leavens the heaviness of the theme is the heroine's wry wit, which Ms. Woodley deploys just as naturally. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Well, of course the book is better. Read more

Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine: Hazel and Augustus will live in film lore because of the young actors who play them. Read more

Andrew Barker, Variety: It walks a knife's edge between heart-on-sleeve sensitivity and crass exploitation for its entire running time, and the fact that it largely stays on the right side of that divide has to mark it as a success. Read more

A.A. Dowd, AV Club: The Fault In Our Stars is a snappy and resonant teenage weepie, blessed with sparks of wit and buoyed by the talents of a charismatic cast. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: If you don't cry or snort or at least tear up a little at some point during Josh Boone's film version of the popular young-adult novel by John Green, you're a pretty cold fish. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: If Elgort's Gus is glibly charming and ultimately affecting, "The Fault in Our Stars" belongs to Woodley, a performer who always seems to be backing warily into her own movies. Read more

Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader: An emotional climax arrives every 15 minutes or so, and every affecting moment is underscored with a soppy light-rock song. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: "The Fault in Our Stars" pushes every button. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: The film is highly manipulative, all right, but in ways that allow the audience a modicum of self-respect. The sniffling legions at the screening I attended needn't have felt like fools. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: The movie is witty and alive and only very occasionally maudlin. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: Big movies have their embedded lessons in heroism, but it's nice to have tales of human-scale fortitude. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: The honest, human performances from stars Ansel Elgort and especially Shailene Woodley keep it grounded, even when things start to wander or threaten to get too precious. Read more

Cary Darling, Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com: It's refreshing to see teenage relationships handled with grace and depth...Director Josh Boone stays out of the way stylistically and lets the considerable naturalistic chemistry between Elgort and Woodley be the draw. Read more

Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly: [A] funny, sweet, three-hankie tearjerker ... Read more

Kate Erbland, Film.com: The film has enough charm and humor to keep it appealing to a wide audience, and dumbing things down doesn't feel particularly smart or canny, and proves to be a minor distraction to an otherwise majorly entertaining feature. Read more

Justin Lowe, Hollywood Reporter: Turning the screenwriting over to adaptation experts Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber has preserved the distinctly literate tone of the book, even if they do occasionally deliver scenes that feel overwrought. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: What sustains the film through the rockier times are its challenging themes, offering real issues for the young protagonists to wrestle with, rather than whether anyone will be carded trying to buy beer. Read more

Randy Myers, San Jose Mercury News: Wise and sometimes funny, delicately reminding us to live and love honestly and fully, while we all still have that gift. Read more

Connie Ogle, Miami Herald: The Fault in Our Stars is a heart-breaker for sure, but it's also a sweet, romantic film full of sudden warmth and humor. It gets everything right about being young and in love for the first time. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: Wears its cynicism the way many young people do: awkwardly and not very convincingly. Read more

Bruce Diones, New Yorker: The film dodges most of the pitfalls of cliched cancer dramas with humor and natural warmth. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: [The book] took readers on a satisfyingly teary journey. The movie mostly does too, but what may have worked in a novel is a little more awkward in a film. Read more

Ella Taylor, NPR: The kind of careful, listless adaptation that makes a critic want to rave at length about the wonderful novel on which it's based. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: Those looking for any fault in these stars - or the proud, full-of-life characters they portray - will have to look elsewhere. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: The film sets out to make you weep - not just sniffle or choke up a little, but sob until your nose runs and your face turns blotchy. It succeeds. Read more

Michael Sragow, Orange County Register: Amid everything that's forced or ersatz about the movie, Woodley and Elgort are the real thing. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Woodley ... balances grace with gravity, wit with heart. Read more

Jocelyn Noveck, Associated Press: About three-quarters of the way through, if not sooner, you'll start hearing sniffles, then sobs, all around you. And it's hard to imagine you too won't succumb, even a little. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Calling The Fault in Our Stars a "teenage cancer romance" might be understating the film's laudable qualities but it's also a reasonably accurate three-word summary of the plot. Read more

Richard Roeper, Richard Roeper.com: Led by the unforgettable work from a young actress who's among the best of her generation, "The Fault in Our Stars" is a lovely work. Read more

Christy Lemire, RogerEbert.com: "The Fault in Our Stars" feels emotionally inert, despite its many moments that are meant to put a lump in our throats. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: It's a fresh, lively love story, brimming with humor and heartbreak, and lifted to the heights by Shailene Woodley, a sublime actress with a resume that pretty much proves she's incapable of making a false move on camera. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: "The Fault in Our Stars" has to be considered some kind of good movie. And so I've given it some kind of good review. Still, I wonder - why do I feel as I've just been rolled? Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: What in the name of God is wrong with me that I didn't cry once -- I, who just the day before wept through the entirety of my child's thoroughly upbeat school play. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Anyone who can watch Woodley and Elgort's romantic tug-of-war and not get caught up in their charm is defective. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: In its totality, "The Fault in Our Stars" is as noxious as chemotherapy. Read more

Geoff Pevere, Globe and Mail: While it may not conform to one's real-life expectations it certainly hews tightly to teen-flick conventions. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: It promises something that it doesn't deliver, and insincerity is the last thing you want in a film like this. Read more

Diane Garrett, TheWrap: "The Fault in Our Stars" may not show the true messiness of cancer, but it does grapple with death and the ability to survive great loss. Maybe that's enough truth for one movie. Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: Far from the shameless emotional pummeling it might have been, this adaptation of John Green's cherished YA cancer drama finds a conduit to earned, understated tears -- a tricky accomplishment given the material. Read more

Jim Slotek, Toronto Sun: The Fault In Our Stars could indeed become this generation's Love Story -- mildly implausible, but genuinely moving. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: The movie is well-written, well-acted, acerbic, funny and wisely observed. Fans of the book will be glad to hear it is faithful to Green's tale. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Village Voice: There needs to be a place for teen melodrama. The Fault in Our Stars at least tries to fill it. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: Woodley has a face that can look plain in repose and startlingly beautiful in motion, when her delicate pink skin becomes near translucent. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: "The Fault in Our Stars" achieves that rare feat of eliciting as many cheers as tears. Read more