Not much to write home about in derivative 'Towns' - Boston Herald

Not much to write home about in derivative 'Towns' - Boston Herald

‘Paper Towns” is based on a 2008 young adult novel by John Green, author of “The Fault in Our Stars.” That novel’s 2014 film version was a big surprise hit, co-starring Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort. Unlike that film, this Green-based effort, again adapted­ by writing partners Scott Neu­stadter and Michael H. Weber, is reminiscent of a John Hughes’ coming-of-age comedy minus the laughs and memorable characters. Its leads are supermodel Cara Delevingne and Nat Wolff of “The Naked Brothers Band,” who was the talented, third-billed actor in “The Fault in Our Stars.”

Paper towns are also fictional places cartographers create to help keep others from counterfeiting their work. In the film, the towns become a laborious metaphor, I think, for the mis­fortune of being born entitled and clueless. They also symbolize all things phony, so I guess we could say that “Paper Towns” is a paper movie.

Starting with the usual voice-over narration, in this case by Orlando, Fla., protagonist Quentin Jacobsen (Wolff), we hear of the “miracle” of the day he fell in love at first sight with new neighbor kid Margo Roth Spiegelman. (Was it her mesmerizing black eyebrows?) After not having much to do with one another in high school because Margo (Delevingne) runs with the cool kids, while Quentin, whose mom (Cara Buono) is hot, is a serious student determined to get into Duke and become an oncologist, Margo asks Quentin, or “Q” as she calls him, to help her “right some wrongs” and “wrong some rights.” This turns out to be a slightly edgier variation of ringing someone’s doorbell and running away.

Quentin and Margo and their friends, including Quentin’s buddies Ben (Austin Abrams) and Radar (Justice Smith), are in a tizzy about prom, especially Radar, since he is the only one of the three guys with a n actual girlfriend, a fellow senior named Angela (Jaz Sinclair).

I could barely keep my eyes open listening to these dweebs prattle, including rakish rich kid “Jase” Worthington (Griffin Freeman). Green’s favorite sentence appears to be, “Wait ... what?” I did not feel any connection between Margo and Quentin in the way that I felt Woodley and Elgort connected in the 2014 film.

Delevingne, who has boyish features and a flat voice, is weirdly affectless as this film’s perversely uninteresting mystery woman. Wolff brings more personality and substance to Quentin, but he has more chemistry with his buddies than with Margo.

By the time everyone, including Margo’s stunning friend Lacey Pemberton (Halston Sage), hops into a Honda Odyssey to track down Margo in a “paper town” in New York State (I thought paper towns did not exist, but never mind), I was done with “Paper Towns.” But the movie was not done with me. Director Jake Schreier got m ore chemistry out of Frank Langella and a tiny robot in “Robot & Frank” than Delevingne and Wolff.

“You have to get lost to find yourself,” Margo purrs.

Just get lost, please.

(“Paper Towns” contains profanity, sexually suggestive language and underage drinking.)

Not much to write home about in derivative 'Towns' - Boston Herald
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