Paper Towns opens July 24 in the States, and 20th Century Fox will push hard to remind audiences of the film’s connection to Green.

But despite an agreeably earnest performance from rising star Nat Wolff, Paper Towns covers familiar coming-of-age terrain and suffers from an opaque turn by newcomer Cara Delevingne that’s not quite as captivating as the story requires.ĭelevingne doesn’t have the depth to suggest the stormy seas behind Margo’s eyes, nor is she able to hint at the beguiling mixture of bruised vulnerability, tomboy toughness and quick wit that supposedly explain Quentin’s helpless devotion to her. Based on a novel by John Green, the author behind The Fault In Our Stars, this likeable, emotionally precise film has a big heart and a genre-shifting construction that keeps the proceedings from feeling like just another young-adult meander. A romantic drama about a teenager consumed by the exquisite melancholy inherent in loving someone just out of reach, Paper Towns, not unlike its protagonist, has worthy ambitions that exceed its grasp.

Paper towns cast