10 Reasons The Fault In Our Stars Is The Best Book-Film Adaptation In Years

It gets nearly everything right and takes pride of place as arguably the best book-film adaptation in recent memory.

With the possible exception of the latest installment of The Hunger Games, the most highly-anticipated young adult novel adaptation of 2014 is The Fault In Our Stars. Based on John Green's bestseller, the film tells the story of teenage cancer sufferer Hazel (Shailene Woodley) who meets fellow patient Gus (Ansel Elgort) at a support group and falls in love with him. It's a book that has touched the hearts of millions of readers and has had people of all ages reaching for a box of tissues. Few books have the potential to make their readers laugh and cry in equal measure, but The Fault In Our Stars manages that feat on just about every page. The popularity of the story has been aided by the frankly remarkable fan following of John Green. By virtue of the VlogBrothers channel he runs with his sibling Hank on YouTube, he has amassed thousands of supporters, known as Nerdfighters. It is at least partially the fervent adoration of these fans that has helped The Fault In Our Stars to become a literary hit. If early box office numbers - a $48m opening weekend - are repeated, it will soon be extending its success to the big screen. Given all of the hype, it would be easy for the film to fall flat on its face. Fortunately, it's a genuinely excellent film. It is currently registering an 82% score on critical aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes and is drawing rave reviews from audiences. Just about every popular young adult novel released in the last decade has found a home in cinemas, but The Fault In Our Stars is on another level to many of those films. It gets nearly everything right and takes pride of place as arguably the best book-film adaptation in recent memory.
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Freelance film journalist and fan of professional wrestling. Usually found in a darkened screening room looking for an aisle seat and telling people to put away their mobile phones. Also known to do a bit of stand-up comedy, so I'm used to the occasional heckle.