Paper Towns 2015

Christy Lemire, ChristyLemire.com: Paper Towns is a movie that I really liked, but I probably would have loved if I'd seen it when I was 13. Read more

Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times: Paper Towns is particularly good at pinpointing that certain point in teenage male friendships where the guys are getting older, but they still sometimes resort to silly voices and goofy humor when the girls aren't around. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: Deeply mediocre ... Read more

Justin Chang, Variety: It may not subvert every cliche of the high-school romance genre, but director Jake Schreier's coming-of-age dramedy nonetheless pulses with moving and melancholy moments ... Read more

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, AV Club: Despite its glimmers of self-awareness, Paper Towns works neither as a teen romance nor as a subversion of the same. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: We've seen the elements that make up "Paper Towns" before, but that's OK. Schreier proves adept at avoiding cliches, and is helped by his actors. Read more

Peter Keough, Boston Globe: Even literate voiceovers (this one isn't so much) telegraph that we're in for safe if dark ironies and rueful platitudes that inevitably resolve in some glib life lesson. Read more

Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader: This is sensitive and often winning in its depiction of adolescent behavior; the characters speak openly about their vulnerabilities, which makes them sympathetic. Read more

Kevin P. Sullivan, Entertainment Weekly: Unlike in its predecessor, The Fault in Our Stars, the path to pubescent enlightenment in Paper Towns is more literal than existential, giving your tear ducts the night off at the cost of something a little deeper. Read more

Britton Peele, Dallas Morning News: Sure, it's a movie aimed at teenagers in which an unpopular guy wants to get a popular girl, but there's a lot more to this story's map between points A and B. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: In its considered, neatly packaged way, the film occupies a safe and solid middle-class middle ground in teen storyland, between crass gross-out comedies and mawkish romance on one side and edgy, exploratory indie fare on the other. Read more

Rebecca Keegan, Los Angeles Times: Neustadter and Weber, who also adapted "A Fault in Our Stars" for director Josh Boone, have a feel for the mundane moments of teen life that carry an emotional punch. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: Lukewarm as a romance, but the charming young cast helps compensate. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: In a summer full of superheroes, dinosaurs and earthquakes it could very easily get drowned out. But try listening a little harder. It has something to say. Read more

Andrew Lapin, NPR: A diverting romp that will get the job done for the author's "nerdfighter" fans. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: If you're searching for smart, soulful teen entertainment, you can start looking inside "Paper Towns." Read more

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: A serenely bland adaptation of the John Green young-adult novel about a regular boy in love with the mystery girl next door. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: The movie name-drops the cool stuff, the rebels of word and song, but the essence of the story and the cardboard characters who inhabit it are as mundane as can be. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Paper Towns is an exercise in artifice. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Ok, Paper Towns plays it safe, but Nat Wolff and Cara Delevingne are irresistible so we're never sorry. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Fantasy is the currency in which adolescent movies deal (why else, in teen movies, would everyone's hair always be perfect?), and "Paper Towns" putters along agreeably enough. Read more

Michael Ordona, San Francisco Chronicle: Self-absorption might be a common teen trait, but its glorification here may fail to excite those old enough to know they don't know everything. Read more

Manori Ravindran, Globe and Mail: Fans expecting more than a routine coming-of-age story had better prepare for a paper movie. Read more

Bruce Demara, Toronto Star: At last, a movie about teens on the cusp of adulthood that has heart, wit and soul. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: Even if the smarmily sanctified and beautifully doomed male lead of The Fault in Our Stars made you want to run screaming from the theater, you may find yourself on board with this movie's road trip. Read more

Brian Truitt, USA Today: A satisfying look at young unrequited love, bromances, independence and letting go. Read more

Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture: It's the rare movie that can sacrifice the clean lines of fantasy and melodrama for the messiness of ordinary life - that neither burnishes nor condemns the up-down turmoil of the teenage soul, but rather lets it be. Read more