A cliché trying desperately to be different.
Don't get me wrong - this is not a bad movie. The directing, cinematography, and art direction is great; in other words, it looks pretty. The performances were good. Unfortunately, those two elements only barely managed to salvage this film, which meanders with a predictable plot and YA tropes.
We meet Guy, who's not conventionally handsome or bad-looking, is not really interesting, possesses no engaging backstory, and seems like a pretty decent human being but people (or girls) just think he's a loser. Then we get his sidekicks (aka subplots) that are painfully trite: the guy who salivates at the sight of breasts; and the other guy who's in a committed relationship and for some reason seems terrified of his girlfriend (and we never get a real reason why). They are written to be funny to try and provide some comic relief.
And of course, we have Girl. Girl in this story is not likable (in fact, none of the characters are). Girl is named Margo, who is the next door neighbor to Guy (Quentin or Q). Guy meets Girl, falls in love with her, and of course, they drift apart because Girl becomes popular. Girl decides to just disappear after one night of a last adventure with Q. Apparently, she just leaves a lot. Her mother is not worried, just weary. Her parents don't even bother to file a missing person's report.
Margo is selfish. Her best friend Lacey soon comes to realize that, but not soon enough. Q, deluded in a fantasy of what he wanted Margo to be, sets off on a journey from their home in Orlando to a paper town called Agleo, New York - all based on clues Margo left behind. Subplots and Margo's best friend tag along because why the heck not, carpe diem, and all that sh*t.
There were many moments during the 109 minutes of this film where I cringed. Literally. When the hot, popular girl with great hair has been unfairly labeled as The Slut, she dispels that misconception and clarifies that she actually has got brains and is going off to Dartmouth. And that's all we get from this character. In fact, none of the supporting characters worked. They were just as paper as Margo lamented about the boring, humdrum inhabitants of their Orlando suburb.
Perhaps a highlight of this movie is the charm that Nat Wolff delivers in his performance as the love-sick puppy, Q. Despite the blandness of his character, Wolff maintained a certain je ne sais quoi, even when he was being a complete idiot.
Don't get me wrong - this is not a bad movie. The directing, cinematography, and art direction is great; in other words, it looks pretty. The performances were good. Unfortunately, those two elements only barely managed to salvage this film, which meanders with a predictable plot and YA tropes.
We meet Guy, who's not conventionally handsome or bad-looking, is not really interesting, possesses no engaging backstory, and seems like a pretty decent human being but people (or girls) just think he's a loser. Then we get his sidekicks (aka subplots) that are painfully trite: the guy who salivates at the sight of breasts; and the other guy who's in a committed relationship and for some reason seems terrified of his girlfriend (and we never get a real reason why). They are written to be funny to try and provide some comic relief.
And of course, we have Girl. Girl in this story is not likable (in fact, none of the characters are). Girl is named Margo, who is the next door neighbor to Guy (Quentin or Q). Guy meets Girl, falls in love with her, and of course, they drift apart because Girl becomes popular. Girl decides to just disappear after one night of a last adventure with Q. Apparently, she just leaves a lot. Her mother is not worried, just weary. Her parents don't even bother to file a missing person's report.
Margo is selfish. Her best friend Lacey soon comes to realize that, but not soon enough. Q, deluded in a fantasy of what he wanted Margo to be, sets off on a journey from their home in Orlando to a paper town called Agleo, New York - all based on clues Margo left behind. Subplots and Margo's best friend tag along because why the heck not, carpe diem, and all that sh*t.
There were many moments during the 109 minutes of this film where I cringed. Literally. When the hot, popular girl with great hair has been unfairly labeled as The Slut, she dispels that misconception and clarifies that she actually has got brains and is going off to Dartmouth. And that's all we get from this character. In fact, none of the supporting characters worked. They were just as paper as Margo lamented about the boring, humdrum inhabitants of their Orlando suburb.
Perhaps a highlight of this movie is the charm that Nat Wolff delivers in his performance as the love-sick puppy, Q. Despite the blandness of his character, Wolff maintained a certain je ne sais quoi, even when he was being a complete idiot.