Movie Review: Paper Towns

Drama/Romance/Mystery

Rated – M – sexual references

Duration – 109mins

Release – July 2015

Director – Jake Schreier

Cast – Nat Wolff, Cara Delevingne, Austin Abrams
 
Mr Knight
I walked into the cinema with Mrs Knight with heavy scepticism regarding this one. How can a world famous, in the moment, thick browed, super model become an actress and be enjoyable to watch? Paper Towns changed my attitude in respect to that and I found a new appreciation for Cara Delevingne.

But it wasn’t Delevingne’s character Margot that carried this story, but in fact, Nat Wolff’s Quentin. Revolving around a young boy’s affection for the classic girl next door, however we quickly discover this girl is no common girl next door. As Quentin ages and reaches his high school years he finds she is now the most popular girl at school, shrouded in mystery to other students, and no longer on talking terms with Quentin. Whereas he is part of a trio of friends who don’t get invited to parties and don’t get asked to senior prom but stick by each other none the less.

Quentin pines for Margot from a distance until one night to his surprise Margot drags him on an adventure, leaving him thinking she is finally in reach and back in his life, only to find the next day she has packed up and left town without a word.

What proceeds is a road trip to upstate New York in Quentin’s mums van with his two best mates, Radar and Ben, Radar’s girlfriend Angela and Margot’s best friend Lacey to seek out Margot. Director Jake Schreier and writers John Green (author) and Scott Neustadter (screenplay) open moviegoers eyes to the undeniable truth that people can be more than what they appear, and some, shrouded in mystery, can actually be less than what others perceive.

For me at first, Paper Towns is the hunt for the unicorn, but as the story develops I found that it isn’t catching the unicorn that is important, but the journey getting there. A good flick to take the Mrs and earn some brownie points.
 

 


Mrs Knight
When Mr Knight and I went to the cinema, it was my choice for the movie and I chose Paper Towns. I’d like to begin by saying I’m completely on the Cara Delevingne band wagon and think she’s fantastic. I had high hopes for this film and in hindsight they were a little too high.

The film began down the lines of your typical girl meets boy rom-com. Quentin (Nat Wolff) and Margot (Cara Delevingne) live next door and were friends until high school, where they inevitably take different paths. Quentin is smart, focussed on school and not considered ‘cool’ while Margot is the most popular girl in school and everyone is lapping up the mysterious bad-girl image she projects. Quentin craves Margot’s attention and pines daily to be back in her life. One night he finally gets his wish as she comes through his window and takes him on an adventure. The next day, she has disappeared.

The character of Quentin made the film for me. He was so much more than he appeared and I was wholeheartedly rooting for him. Upon Margot’s disappearance we see him travel with his friends to upstate New York, looking for the one he loves. I know it’s still sounding like your typical high school story line, but trust me it’s not. I liked that it didn’t fall into the usual clichés.

Now onto Margot… She was the exact opposite of what I wanted. Develingne sure did a good job, as I believed every smirk but despite my best efforts, I disliked her with a passion. For me, this brought my enjoyment levels down. While I wouldn’t sit through it again, I didn’t check my phone once, which is usually a telling for how enjoyable the film is. Mr Knight however, was laughing a lot and I think enjoyed it more than me!