Paper Town (2015)

Maybe I'm getting old. These over-serious, platitude-filled teen dramas used to only mildly annoy me. Now, with Paper Towns, I feel myself getting irrationally angry at its desperate plea to be this generation's The Breakfast Club. From where is that resentment coming? Maybe it's that I'm a 30-year-old married-father who's not meant to like this movie. Maybe it's that I'm coming off the high of the teen drama Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. Whatever it is, Paper Towns irritated much more than it charmed. The premise has potential: nerd spends one magically frivolous night with the enigmatic girl of his dreams, Margot, before she inexplicably disappears. Instead of being unique, stylish, or progressive, it becomes the lament of the rich-white-teen and the manic pixie dream girl. Our "hero" is drawn to her magnetic mystery, but that appeal never reaches the audience

The film follows Quentin (Nat Wolff) , or "Q" as he is more popularly called, a highschool boy who has been nursing an unrequited love for the girl living next door, Margo (Cara Delevigne) since childhood. Even after when they turn 12, when Margo suddenly becomes distant, "Q" never loses the affection, and it only becomes even stronger when one day she climbs again to his window, the way she did when they were still kids. The next events follow an eager "Q" savoring the moment as he escorts Margo in her series of "small revenge" against those she thinks have betrayed her, including her ex-boyfriend. But the levitating moment would only last overnight, because the next day, the ever mystifying Margo, disappears.


Strangely, though, the most contemptible character throughout this whole film is Margo for more reasons than her empty personality. She's the kind of person who thinks it's okay to drop her friends and family without giving them any inkling as to what's wrong with her because she's trying to find herself. Finally, when somebody does something for her, particularly Quentin, she takes it with a grain of salt and goes about selfishly trying to advance herself rather than consider what she means to others. She's on the verge of growing up and being Amy Schumer's Amy character from "Trainwreck," a contemptible, lost soul who takes advantage of people she meets.

And the performances are well-tuned: Wolff excels as an unconventional leading man, and Delevingne, the fashion world's new Kate Moss, gives a surprisingly earnest characterization. Supporting Abrams and Smith appeal, with Halston Sage and Jaz Sinclair inviting as their love interests. "Paper Towns" is exactly what fans of the novel want it to be.

While from the summary,the film may seem like a love story, the ending says a completely other story. And while the narrative was smooth, the film had no big twists, or huge comedic moments. The clues to where margo is, the party and road trip comedic scenes where all been there done that type of clichéd scenes. But still the proceeding never leave you bored, and you do always have a smile on your face from the proceedings. Even the ending as convoluted as it is, its very uncliched, and its a good message.

6.8/10 IMDb
55% Rotten Tomatoes
56% Metacritic
6/10 Verdict