For
most of us, there is The One. (And I don’t mean that in a “Matrix”-y way,
nerds.) You fall completely under his or her alluring spell, and even if
there’s no fairy tale ending for the two of you, your time in their orbit
inspired you to be daring and be vulnerable and be better… often even
extraordinary. Fiction has abbreviated this very real being into the tiresome
Manic Pixie Dream Person, a living library of quirks whose sole purpose seems
to be a protagonist’s salvation. But rarely is this contrived agent of change
allowed the depths of their earthbound counterparts, because that would screw
the illusion. “Paper Towns,” the satisfying screen version of John Green’s
popular Young Adult novel, challenges that Manic Pixie Dream myth through a wise
and beautifully-acted film: part mystery, part road movie, and all
coming-of-age tale.
Nat Wolff (he was Gus’s blind buddy
in the other Green adaptation, “The Fault in Our Stars”) plays Quentin, our
hero and narrator, and he informs us at the outset that his longtime
neighbor, Margo Roth Spiegelman (Cara Delevingne), is
his miracle. As high school draws to a close, however, contact between the
reserved Q and the popular, gorgeous Margo has dwindled since their respective
social standings anchor opposite ends of the cool spectrum. But late one
evening the adventurous Margo climbs in his window and enlists the wary Q’s
help as a getaway driver while she exacts inventive revenge on a few jerks who
wronged her. Their exhilarating mischief, in concert with that soul-baring time
of night, leads to a kind of détente, an acknowledgment of their shared history
and a hope that their friendship can continue. By the next day, though, Margo
is gone.
It’s not the first time the restless
Margo has lit out, but Q’s reignited infatuation — a feeling he’s convinced is
love — drives him to try and find her, and the fact that Margo, as usual, has
left a series of clues only encourages the search. Q is aided by his two
equally geeky friends, apple-cheeked horndog Ben
(Austin Abrams) and sensible Radar (Justice Smith), and it’s not long before
the three model students are skipping class and letting the suburban Orlando
scavenger hunt blossom into a full-blown road trip … on the strict condition
they can get back in time for prom. And as with any proper cinematic journey,
milestones are achieved, strong bonds are made, stronger bonds are tested, and
lessons are learned, by both the actual travelers and us, the audience, who
occasionally need to be re-educated as to what constitutes a
happily-ever-after.
Adapted for the screen by Michael
Weber and Scott Neustadter (they also wrote the
screenplay for the very similar “500 Days of Summer”), “Paper Towns” is blessed
with a smart director in Jake Schreier (“Robot &
Frank”), who does little more than point the camera at his appealing cast.
British supermodel Delevingne is totally believable
as a Florida teen, and her teasing chemistry with Wolff sells their deep
attachment. Besides the third-act breakdown, Wolff isn’t asked to do much yet
he’s oddly compelling, likely due to a normalcy in which we can see ourselves
reflected. But the movie might belong to Justice Smith as Radar, a nice kid who
won’t let his cute girlfriend come over because his parents are angling for the
world’s largest collection of black Santas. Smith’s
line deliveries are both hilarious and startlingly organic; he’s a major find.
What makes “Paper Towns” (the literal
title refers to make-believe places on a map that only exist to counter
copyright infringement) especially interesting, though, is that it’s very
nearly a bait-and-switch. You think you’re in for another
quiet-boy-meets-quirky-girl drama, but instead you’re treated to a funny,
wistful look at friendship set during the waning days of high school, a
bittersweet procession of last times, and an exciting parade of firsts. Endings
dovetail with beginnings in the Margo and Q thread, which finds Margo ultimately
verbalizing all the thoughts I’ve silently screamed at the screen during nearly
every Cameron Crowe flick, where an enchanting, complicated young woman is
expected to save some lost young man from himself. No one never seems to
consider that the dream girl might be harboring a few dreams of her own.
This article appears in Jul 29 – Aug 4, 2015.
