I haven't read John Green's novel which the film "Paper Towns" is based on, but I note that the plot description of the novel in Wikipedia is remarkably similar to the film adaptation. Thus it appears that the film is a faithful rendering of the novel. Despite an immensely likable cast, I can only conclude that the fault with the narrative is due to the weakness of the original source material.
The protagonist is one Quentin "Q" Jacobsen, a denizen of suburban Orlando, who has been pining away for his next-door-neighbor, Margo Roth Spiegelman, since childhood. We learn that the childhood friends have grown apart by the time they've reached adolescence, so Quentin is quite surprised when Margo climbs through his bedroom window with a proposal unbecoming of a protagonist's love object.
Right away, Margo is disqualified as a likable character when she conscripts puppy dog Quentin in a revenge campaign against a boyfriend who has jilted her. And this is supposed to be the enigmatic rebel who later disappears and we're supposed to care about for the rest of the film? No need to rehash all of Margo's hijinks but the main point is that Quentin is so smitten with his neighbor the "rebel" that he's willing to risk a felony charge of breaking and entering in order curry favor with a girl he's fallen head over heels for.
After Margo disappears, Act 2 is all about Quentin teaming up with his two buddies, Ben and Radar, along with Margo's estranged friend, Lacey, and Radar's girlfriend, Angela, to find Quentin's missing love interest. Margo leaves clues which eventually lead the group to an abandoned mini-mall where further clues are found. Then the group is off to upstate New York—along the way Lacey promises Ben she'll go with him to the prom and Radar loses his virginity with Angela.
Upon arrival Margo is nowhere to be found and the group sans Quentin decides to high tail it back to Orlando in order to attend the prom. Finally, Quentin bumps into Margo just as he's buying a bus ticket to go back home. After waiting all this time for the dramatic climax, it turns out that Margo ran away simply to find herself (where she got the cash to support herself while on the run is never revealed). Quentin realizes that he had put Margo on a pedestal and that his infatuation with his childhood buddy was not productive.
Nat Wolff as Quentin (who does a neat "Jimmy Stewart" impression along the way) may one day fill the shoes of the iconic actor. And Carla Delevingne (a dead ringer for either one of the Hemingway sisters), is sure to find notable roles in the Hollywood system in the future. Despite the likable cast, there is nothing about Margo, the principal love interest, that is the least bit interesting. The revelation at film's end that she's just an "ordinary teenager" who needs to find herself, is hardly the stuff of high drama. "Paper Towns" suffers from a lack of imagination on the part of Mr. Green, whose ordinary tale of teenage angst, fails to impress for all of its meandering 109 minutes.
The protagonist is one Quentin "Q" Jacobsen, a denizen of suburban Orlando, who has been pining away for his next-door-neighbor, Margo Roth Spiegelman, since childhood. We learn that the childhood friends have grown apart by the time they've reached adolescence, so Quentin is quite surprised when Margo climbs through his bedroom window with a proposal unbecoming of a protagonist's love object.
Right away, Margo is disqualified as a likable character when she conscripts puppy dog Quentin in a revenge campaign against a boyfriend who has jilted her. And this is supposed to be the enigmatic rebel who later disappears and we're supposed to care about for the rest of the film? No need to rehash all of Margo's hijinks but the main point is that Quentin is so smitten with his neighbor the "rebel" that he's willing to risk a felony charge of breaking and entering in order curry favor with a girl he's fallen head over heels for.
After Margo disappears, Act 2 is all about Quentin teaming up with his two buddies, Ben and Radar, along with Margo's estranged friend, Lacey, and Radar's girlfriend, Angela, to find Quentin's missing love interest. Margo leaves clues which eventually lead the group to an abandoned mini-mall where further clues are found. Then the group is off to upstate New York—along the way Lacey promises Ben she'll go with him to the prom and Radar loses his virginity with Angela.
Upon arrival Margo is nowhere to be found and the group sans Quentin decides to high tail it back to Orlando in order to attend the prom. Finally, Quentin bumps into Margo just as he's buying a bus ticket to go back home. After waiting all this time for the dramatic climax, it turns out that Margo ran away simply to find herself (where she got the cash to support herself while on the run is never revealed). Quentin realizes that he had put Margo on a pedestal and that his infatuation with his childhood buddy was not productive.
Nat Wolff as Quentin (who does a neat "Jimmy Stewart" impression along the way) may one day fill the shoes of the iconic actor. And Carla Delevingne (a dead ringer for either one of the Hemingway sisters), is sure to find notable roles in the Hollywood system in the future. Despite the likable cast, there is nothing about Margo, the principal love interest, that is the least bit interesting. The revelation at film's end that she's just an "ordinary teenager" who needs to find herself, is hardly the stuff of high drama. "Paper Towns" suffers from a lack of imagination on the part of Mr. Green, whose ordinary tale of teenage angst, fails to impress for all of its meandering 109 minutes.