But when Grace and Henry are both chosen to edit the school paper, he quickly finds himself falling for her. Grace isn't who Henry pictured as his dream girl-she walks with a cane, wears oversized boys' clothes, and rarely seems to shower. Then Grace Town walks into his first period class on the third Tuesday of senior year and he knows everything's about to change. Instead, he's been happy to focus on his grades, on getting into a semi-decent college and finally becoming editor of his school newspaper. He fancies himself a hopeless romantic, but the slo-mo, heart palpitating, can't-eat-can't-sleep kind of love that he's been hoping for just hasn't been in the cards for him-at least not yet. When both characters open up and dig past their cliches, the film shines and stands out from the rest through being authentic, which is what this genre is all about.John Green meets Rainbow Rowell in this irresistible story of first love, broken hearts, and the golden seams that put them back together again. If you’re in the mood for a coming-of-age film with a dark twist, then watch Chemical Hearts on Amazon Prime.
#HENRY PAGE CHEMICAL HEARTS MOVIE#
Diversity is sparse, except for a romantic subplot involving one of Henry’s friends that feels less important and more like they were trying to meet some diversity quota.īut the fact the movie abandoned the typical “happy ending” in turn for a more realistic one that lacks closure and clarity is admirable, and something I hope future films in this genre take on. The best moments are when Henry and Grace, either together or on their own, talk about tragedies they’ve gone through.Ĭhemical Hearts isn’t a terrible film, but it’s also not as revolutionary as it paints itself to be. The color grading of the film is somewhat dark, and the film plays with lighting a lot with settings, like when Grace and Henry go to her secret spot, an abandoned factory with a fish pond.Īnd because Henry listens to Beach House and Perfume Genius, the movie’s soundtrack is mostly dark alternative pop, which is a nice complement to the dark, brooding atmosphere. Shot on 35mm film, the movie’s filming took place over only 25 days, which is a huge feat. The cinematography is authentic, with smooth, moving shots of the beautiful setting in New Jersey. The movie’s production also adds to the movie’s rawness.
It’s not afraid to be dark and talk about trauma, which is laudable. Her natural demeanor is standoffish and rude and comes off as “I’m so edgy, and I hate everyone.” It makes her uninteresting and unlikeable, at least until she later opens up and becomes more of a person and less of a caricature.Īmid the faux-deepness there are some great moments, like the climactic argument between Henry and Grace in her bedroom toward the end of the film.
Grace falls victim to the cliches more often.
Despite his beginning monologue painting him as an uncool loser because he only has two friends and nothing remarkable has ever happened in his life, he’s still cool enough to be smoking someone else’s weed and to get invited to a party in the first place. His gauche-but-still-cool demeanor betrays the typical awkward protagonist and is someone many high school students relate to.Īlthough Henry isn’t the most popular kid at school, he still goes to parties and has a close group of core friends. Abrams and Reinhart portray the characters well, but Abrams takes it the extra step. But the movie does deserve some praise for taking the road somewhat less traveled by including heartbreak and trauma, especially because it’s not at the expense of the believability of the film.
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