Paper Towns
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: July 24, 2015 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
56
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 34 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
21
Negative:
1
Watch Now
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
CineVueDavid SugarmanAug 27, 2015
Films about teens looking for love and acceptance may be well-trodden ground, but Paper Towns finds a fresher path to get there. Read full review
60
EmpireIan FreerAug 19, 2015
An engaging, if familiar, mix of teen rites of passage, the fun of friendship and mooning over a cool girl. Still, Nat Wolff and Cara Delevingne make for a watchable duo. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierJul 24, 2015
If you’re searching for smart, soulful teen entertainment, you can start looking inside Paper Towns. Read full review
60
The GuardianJordan HoffmanJul 23, 2015
The best parts of Paper Towns are also the best part of being young – just hanging out doing nothing with friends who know you too well to allow for any lies. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzJul 23, 2015
We’ve seen the elements that make up Paper Towns before, but that’s OK. Schreier proves adept at avoiding clichés, and is helped by his actors. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyJul 5, 2015
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 full review
60
Screen DailyTim GriersonJul 5, 2015
This likeable, emotionally precise film has a big heart and a genre-shifting construction that keeps the proceedings from feeling like just another young-adult meander. But despite an agreeably earnest performance from rising star Nat Wolff, Paper Towns covers familiar coming-of-age terrain and suffers from an opaque turn by newcomer Cara Delevingne that’s not quite as captivating as the story requires. Read full review
58
HitfixGregory EllwoodJul 24, 2015
The film feels 30 minutes longer than its 109 minute run time mostly due to the fact that “Paper” seems distinctly like three different films. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyJul 23, 2015
While director Jake Shreier (Robot & Frank) doesn’t do a whole lot with the camera besides make sure that there are people in the frame, he does manage to provoke strong performances from Wolff—who looks kind of like a young Dustin Hoffman, but stretched out like a piece of taffy—and the young supporting cast. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreJul 28, 2015
A teen romance with most of the rough edges rubbed off, Paper Towns is as pleasantly bland as the city that is its setting — Orlando. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliJul 24, 2015
The contrived storyline offers little opportunity for characters to grow and the meandering narrative trajectory and anticlimactic ending will have some viewers wondering why they bothered. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaJul 24, 2015
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 full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMichael Ordoña Jul 23, 2015
When Paper Towns works, it’s fun. Read full review
50
Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanJul 23, 2015
Once The Quest begins, the movie collapses. The ending turns coincidental, preachy and stupid. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineEric HendersonJul 23, 2015
To hose down the white elephant in the room right off the bat, yes, it falls into place as a coming-of-age spin on the Manic Pixie Dream Girl archetype. Read full review
50
New York PostLou LumenickJul 23, 2015
“Risky Business” it’s not, and Delevingne is no Rebecca De Mornay. Read full review
50
Boston GlobePeter KeoughJul 23, 2015
Will miracles never cease? Alas, they do. Pausing pregnantly between clauses to add to their trite profundity, Quentin recites the moral of the story, and it’s as phony as the towns of the title. Read full review
50
Washington PostAnn HornadayJul 23, 2015
If it’s a bit dull, and too dependent on a what-I-learned voice-over to make its points, it can still be applauded for resisting the temptation to overreach. Read full review
40
The TelegraphTim RobeyAug 13, 2015
Director Jake Schreier (Robot and Frank) deserves some credit for the spark and timing of his ensemble – the supporting cast, especially Abrams and Smith, come close to winning you over, but they can’t disguise the mechanical, one-sided insights where this story’s centre should be. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleSteve DavisJul 29, 2015
It’s hard to completely accept the up-and-coming Wolff as a total geek with no social or love life. With those puppy-dog brown eyes and enticing grin, the guy exudes intelligence and charm from top to bottom of his lanky frame. Up until now, the actor has shined in secondary roles, but in Paper Towns he proves he may be the next prom king. Read full review
40
The New York TimesManohla DargisJul 23, 2015
In the end, what makes Q such a deceptively tricky literary creation — his averageness — is the very thing the filmmakers struggle with, partly because movies of this commercial scale and bottom-line ambition rarely know what to do with ordinary life. Read full review
More From This Movie

56 Critic Reviews

6.3 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 77 Project Hail Mary
2 75 Send Help
3 73 Hoppers
4 72 The Sheep Detectives
5 68 Crime 101
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL