Turtles All the Way Down

I'm honestly such a harsh reviewer when it comes to book to movie adaptations but I thought this was really good. Loved literally the whole cast too, the performances were great :) I do t super understand the 6/10 average rating for this, and I went into assuming that would be accurate. Love the John Green book and read it in high school, I thought this translated be try well narratively even given the limitations of the screen. I also just want to point out (and this is true to the book as well) how really good of a depiction of OCD this is. I don't think there are many very thoughtful depictions of the disorder.

I'm still fairly new John Green's books, but I haven't been a stranger to his films. We have to remember when a book gets adapted to film, that there will always be changes and things cut to help fill a movie length runtime. I definitely felt like most of the right things were cut and at least the final product still followed the story and hit all the important plot points. Is it perfect? No, and that's okay, but I still feel like this is very well adapted and still easy to follow. The entire main core cast was phenomenal and their chemistry was perfect! They all felt like their characters and all the heartfelt and tear jerking moments felt lived in. I'm not saying this movie is for everyone, but I still for sure enjoyed it.

I really hoped this adaptation wouldn't fall flat like Paper Towns (which was sad because it is my favorite of all John Green books).

Well, it didn't.

Most of what is important in the book is in this movie. I saw someone say it was disproportionately focused on the Picketts, but I totally don't agree.

The movie played out exactly as it should and better. I especially liked how it didn't give a happy, wrapped-up ending to a mental problem that probably sticks with you for life. It was every bit as relatable (to those who relate), sad, happy, and worth it as the book.

I see how those who have never read the book or don't really know John Green as someone other than Hank Green's brother or the guy from Crash Course might see this as falling flat. But for those who read it, this movie is a win for us.

This is a John Green movie from his book where the main character has OCD, which reflects the author's own struggles. The OCD parts were great, they were well acted and did a great job of having you understand what it's like to live with OCD. I could confirm this was the case during the movie by merely looking over at my girlfriend who has severe OCD, and seeing her crying during pretty much every OCD scene because she hadn't seen such an accurate representation before and felt seen. The rest of movie was unfortunately aggressively mid at best. 6/10, with it only being that high because the lead actress nailed the OCD moments and it's clearly huge for people with OCD to see a movie about it front and center.

The searching for a lost rich billionaire was completely unnecessary and added nothing. No happy ending which is typical of John Green, and no resolution for OCD just him being like lol every days a battle.

So yeah, extremely mid. The best friend was fun. The "mustard" scene was great as well.

I'd like to preface this by saying that my review is probably biased because I myself have OCD as well. The movie made me very emotional. I think I cried like 10 times because of the way I related so much to Aza during her bad moments. I have never felt so seen or heard while watching a movie. It is a truly authentic and respectful representation of someone who has OCD. We need more of this. I will say it is probably a movie better suited/relatable to teens in some ways, but this IS a YA book, so the cheesiness is acceptable haha. I personally think the cheesiness is a good thing in this. The acting was great, Isabel did a great job as Aza. Thought provoking, and I love that it doesn't aim to solve Ada's issues or make her being able to have a romantic partner the most important thing, but instead focused on helping her see that she can still live a good life despite it all, which is the true win when you have OCD. Not only that, but that she DESERVES a good life. Loved it so much.