‘The Fault In Our Stars’ Gets Mocked In Honest Trailer — Does It Go Too Far?

The Fault in Our Stars has shaped up to the the blockbuster teen tearjerker drama of the year, perhaps even the decade, if the newfound fame of its young stars Ansel Elgort and Shailene Woodley is any indication. The film has grossed more than $301 million worldwide, a huge boon for a $12 million movie about kids with cancer. Still, the film hasn’t gotten universal acclaim, especially from the cynically minded. A new “honest trailer” addressed many of the moments that may have caused more eye-rolls than sobs for the more jaded members of the audience.

Of course, because of the delicate subject matter tackled in The Fault is Our Stars, not everyone was happy with the video. Some comments tore down the mocking references to the disease littered throughout the trailer.

Then again, it’s not like The Fault in Our Stars has been immune to criticism all along. Although its fan base is monstrously large, many critics dismissed it upon its release for the same reasons the honest trailer mocks it. Slant critic David Lee Dallas was one of several who felt the film promised more than it delivered.

“This isn’t just ‘a movie,’ Hazel’s voiceover intones over a close-up of Woodley’s wonderfully expressive eyes, but a document of authentic lived experience that dares to stare terminal cancer baldly in the face rather than hide behind euphemisms and syrupy montages. A noble mission, to be sure, and one that shows the filmmakers have the right instincts about how to tell this story, but ultimately ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ doesn’t live up to these claims, as it takes few chances, frequently using sass as a smokescreen, hiding what’s unoriginal and cheaply sentimental about this story behind a veil of witticisms about oblivion and ‘cancer perks.’

Although the film came out several months ago, The Fault in Our Stars has ridden a wave of buzz all the way to its DVD release last week. Twentieth Century Fox was in the unique position of being able to reach out to the teen girl market through almost purely digital media, Vincent Marcais, executive VP of brand marketing for Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, told Variety.

“This is a movie that’s going to add an overall effect on the consumption of Digital HD by teens and younger people, especially young girls. This young audience already has a digital life. Their consumption of media is digital. When they buy music and books, it’s digital. They do lots of things with movies digitally.”

Watch the real The Fault in Our Stars trailer below, starring Ansel Elgort and Shailene Woodley.

[Image via 20th Century Fox]