“I cannot tell you how thankful I am for our little infinity… You gave me a forever within the numbered days, and I’m grateful.” Hazel Grace Lancaster

It.Was.Awesome. Loved the movie! I was already extremely excited to be seeing the movie TWO WEEKS EARLY but then the movie was better than I expected. I have seen a lot of books-turned-movies and have been let down by many but this one was great.
I haven’t been a huge fan of Shailene Woodley in the past and have hardly heard of Ansel Eghort but the duo in this movie sold me. Amazing acting on both sides that had me laughing and crying multiple times by the end of the movie.

(Cool fact: the same duo starred in Divergent together as brother and sister.)

SPOILER ALERT
There are very few things in this movie that were different from the book and they left out very little from the book, which is remarkable. They obviously left out parts from Hazel’s thoughts and ideas but that is to be expected in any book adaptation. But now for the changes / missing pieces…
The swing set: Hazel and Gus talked about the swing set and how it made her sad but that was it. Later in the movie, we see Hazel sitting with Issac by the spot where it was, but they didn’t talk about how Gus came over and helped her get rid of it. Doesn’t really matter to the story I guess, just noted.
The missing fight: Gus arrived at Hazel’s house to pick her up for the big trip. In the book, it was the other way around and while waiting on Gus to get to the car, Hazel heard Gus arguing with his parents about “something,” which we later find out was that his cancer had returned and they thought he was too sick to travel. Again, not a big deal in the long run, but still missing.
The big one (for me anyway): The Shakespeare poem was missing. “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars/But in ourselves.” Van Houten writes this to Augustus and talks about how “never was Shakespeare more wrong” when he wrote it. The worst person in the whole book had one of the best quotes when he said that the fault was in the stars and not because of our actions or anything we have done as humans. This whole portion summarized the book to this: Cancer sucks and there is no equation for why certain people get it and others don’t. Only the stars can tell.
As for everything else, it was great. When Hazel cried, I cried. I didn’t expect to get so emotional during the “fake funeral” but I bawled. Watching Hazel read those words to the love of her life, you can’t imagine what she is feeling but you feel it. You really feel it. If you have ever loved anyone, you will cry because the pain and unimaginable situation that they are in is so sad. The entire scene is so heartfelt that it hits you where it hurts. And just about the time you have dried your tears from that one, the call comes in that Gus has died and we’re back to tears. Hazel hears the call in the middle of the night and as soon as her parents come in, she’s crying and so am I.

SUMMARY
This is not a story about cancer, it’s a story about love. It’s a story about how you should always make the best of your situation and how life sucks and cancers sucks but love is love and love is great. You can find love and friends when you try and you shouldn’t be afraid to do either.
Go see this movie as soon as you can. My husband has not read the book and he went with me. His comments? Amazing acting. The raw emotion behind the scenes made it that much better.
This from a guy who doesn’t cry in movies but can still hold my hand and smile when I do.

GRADE: A+