Summer Film Review

My favourite film of this summer would have to be paper towns.  Although some may argue that as a film it is nothing special, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I think this can be put down to the storyline and scripting.

The story is a simple coming of age teen drama revolving around an 18 year old boy, ‘Q’, and his relationship with childhood friend and long-time crush, Margo. Margo is a mystery, not only to Q and the audience but to herself, and Cara Delevigne portrays this perfectly in her spot-on interpretation of the already well established book character. She expertly shows the layers to Margos’ character, whilst effortlessly making Q’s love for Margo believable, as I’m sure many other audience members would agree with me when I say, you couldn’t take your eyes off her.

The plot revolves around Margo disappearing after spending a night with Q, (who she hadn’t spoken to for years), full of mischievous, exhilarating and technically legal endeavours. Q and an unlikely group then follow clues left behind by Margo in order to find her and bring her home.

This leads to breaking, (but not entering at the same time), entering, (but not breaking at the same time), a road trip and an awful lot of self-discovery. Without a ‘typical’ Hollywood ending, I believe some would feel let down, or unfulfilled by how the film is brought to a close. However I think a quiet acceptance and realisation that not everyone is how you may perceive them to be is much more effective.

The use of comedy keeps the tone light, whilst also tackling the issues of high school teens during the most important year of high school both academically and socially- it is very relatable, which is a reason I think it appealed to me so much.

The moral of the film is to live in the moment, make memories and focus on the now. Although this seems to be Margo’s motto at the beginning of the film, we see Q develop a similar attitude… but with a more sensible, mature approach. He also develops the outlook that he had put Margo on a pedestal for years, and had been blinded by his love for her so much, that he couldn’t see that she wasn’t the brilliant, all knowing admirable character he had created and made her out to be; in fact she was a lost girl who had already decided the world was too small and boring for her, and to the audience it seems inevitable that she would end up unhappy and discontent.

The simplicity of the film suits the story, and no embellishment is required to distract from lack of character development, or plot holes. The story the film tells is a beautiful mystery with a perfect  conclusion, that is emphasised and flattered by the plain, simple ending, that left me, personally, with a warm feeling in my heart- the feeling of content.