Paper Towns Movie Review

By Alyssa Weil
What would you do if your best friend went missing for over a week? Well that’s what Quentin experienced with his friend Margo in the mystery/ young romance movie Paper Towns. In Paper Towns, Margo plays an all-nighter revenge prank on her friends and asks Quentin to assist; the prank goes well but the next day, Margo goes missing. Quentin makes it his mission to locate Margo, so he and his friends journey up the east coast, led by clues Margo has left behind to find her. Overall, I thought it was an excellent, high spirited movie for lots of reasons.

Let’s start with the characters; the actors really get into their characters; Margo (Cara Delevingne) is a mysterious daredevil, but still has a certain charm about her that makes her one of the popular girls that every guy likes. “What’s the point of being alive if you don’t even try to do something remarkable?” Margo says to Q.  Margo also loves traveling and we can see from the movie that she does it unexpectedly, "I'm in love with places I’ve never been to and people I’ve never met.” On the other hand, Quentin (Nat Wolff) is nerdy and conservative (don’t worry, he comes around) since he is always questioning “Are you sure we should be doing this?” about Margo’s ideas. But, his nerdiness comes to good use when he’s deciphering Margo’s clues. Also, the rest of the characters are fully developed, especially Quentin’s comical and geeky friends, Radar and Ben, and Margo’s friend Lacey who assists Quentin in their search for Margo. Each character has their own personality, which is something I found entertaining.

Another reason why I enjoyed this movie is how the story follows the plot line really well. At the beginning of the movie Quentin and Margo are 11 years old when they meet. The two kids get along, but go along different ways and barely see each other for the next seven years. The movie then fast-forwards to when they're 18, and they meet up again for the prank. The rising action would be the intense search for Margo. During Quentin’s road trip throughout Florida with Radar, Ben, and Lacey, they find subtle clues and riddles Margo has left behind that they must unravel.

My final reason why I found Paper Towns entertaining is that it brings out your emotions. When Margo goes missing, it makes you wonder “What would happen if my sibling, friend, or child went missing?” Margo’s family didn’t think much of her disappearance, “It’s just her way of getting attention; she’ll come back eventually,” her mother assures the police. Quentin and Lacey are the only ones who are worried about Margo and make the effort to find her. Paper Towns will keep you laughing when Margo plays the prank on her friends, chewing your nails and you’ll be on the edge of your seat during some intense parts of this movie.

Overall, Paper Towns is a high quality, attention grabbing movie because the characters were well developed, the plot followed the plot line, and it brings out emotions. If you enjoy mystery/ romance movies, I would definitely recommend that you watch Paper Towns today!