Paper Towns is a teen drama directed by Jake Schreier starring The Fault in Our Stars’ Nat Wolff, Anna Karenina’s Cara Delevingne, and The Kings of Summer’s Austin Abrams. The movie, based on the novel by John Green, generates some humorous scenes and has an entertaining main plot, however, the movie lacks in depth and memorability.

Quentin (Wolff) is a quiet kid whose only “miracle” in life is being next door neighbors to the adventurous Margo (Delevingne). Quentin has fallen hard for Margo, despite running in different social circles, and jumps at the chance to follow Margo on her personal mission of righting the wrongs in her life. The two have an epic adventure together leaving Quentin feeling more alive than ever, unfortunately, Margo disappears the next day leaving nothing behind but a trail of clues. Quentin, along with his friends, take it upon themselves to follow these clues and hunt Margo down before prom.

Wolff gave an okay performance as the main character. His delivery was dry, and showed little emotion. This worked in some scenes but ultimately created a cynical character. For example, in the scene where Quentin is discussing Margo with her best friend Lacey, Wolff uses the same tone of voice and facial expressions throughout the entire scene. In contrast, Quentin’s friend Ben (Abrams) provided the most enjoyable performance causing for hilarious scenes.

The movie shines during the lighthearted scenes giving off an 80’s feel. However, when the movie tried to get serious, the cast could not handle it with genuity. The story should have focused more on friends having a fun time together, and less on trying to recreate the drama of The Fault in our Stars.

The film manages a few humorous scenes and has an interesting premise, but the movie fails when attempting to be heartfelt. Overall, it’s exactly what you would expect from a  teen movie, which isn’t always a bad thing.

Rating 3/5 stars

writer: Lilly Socha