After a wild night of revenge and quirky freedom with his manic pixie dream girl neighbour, Quentin (Nat Wolff) decides to finally tell her how he truly feels about her. Unfortunately for him, Margo (Cara Delevigne) has disappeared after that night and, despite many absurd rumours as to where she is, no one has actually seen her. It falls to Quentin and his group of friends to follow the clues this free spirit has left and try and decipher what is meant by the phrase “paper town” in an attempt to find her.
Based on the book by John Green (The Fault In Our Stars), Paper Towns is just a little bit smarter than you initially give it credit for. Sure, it peddles a lot of the standard pop psychology that has been aimed at teen audiences ever since a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a criminal, and a princess served detention together one Saturday in the ‘80s. That is to say: be empathetic to your schoolmates, look beyond the surface, and don’t be afraid to go outside your comfort zone. Paper Towns just does it with a genuine sense of fun from the cast and occasionally it has a little more to say about how we construct those views.
The changes from the novel help with this. Paper Towns was adapted for the screen by Scott Neustadte and Michael H Webber, who had previous experience in bringing a Green novel to the big screen with The Fault In Our Stars. They manage to change Quentin’s lonely journey into a road movie, hence there is a sense of exultation about the search as the friends bond, have adventures and manage to grow a little, rather than one lone guy stalking his neighbour 1200 miles up the coast (which, if we are being honest here, is less romantic and more grounds for a restraining order).
The young cast manages to have a great chemistry together, especially the three friends that are the heart to this film. “Q”, Radar (Justice Smith) and “Bloody” Ben (Austin Abrams) act like they have a lifetime of bonding, whether it is interrogating Ben for details about his make believe girlfriend, or bursting into the Pokemon theme. There is a sense of joy and familiarity here, tinged with the melancholic realisation that it will all end soon as they head for college. Delevigne makes a great “it” girl, with her harsh eyebrows and husky tone, lending her both mystery and strength. Nat Wolff is more laid back than the scene stealing Isaac (again Fault...), but he conveys a sense of charisma to what could easily be a flat central role.
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Jake Schreier (Robot And Frank) may not do anything ground-breaking here, but he handles the subject mater well, creating what is an enjoyable teen film. This should hit its target demographic with no problem, and may even find fans outside it.
Originally published in X-Press Magazine
