Film Review: ‘Everything, Everything’ Offers Close to Nothing, Nothing

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CHICAGO – I’ll be the first to admit that I am not the target audience for these stock young adult romance novels. Aside from the odd fascination and romanticization of teenage death and terminal illness, these stories feel trite and much closer to fantasy than anything real or plausible. This is what the film “Everything, Everything” brings to the table, which essentially translates to Nothing, Nothing.

Rating: 2.0/5.0

I am patient and empathetic. I always try to understand another person’s point of view or outlook especially when it doesn’t mirror my own. Going into every film with an open mind is the only way to truly open yourself to the experience it is trying to impart. I didn’t know anything when going into “Everything, Everything” but it soon became clear that I actually knew exactly how the story was going to progress after the first ten minutes. This trite tale offers little in the way of surprises and even less when it comes to the almost forced, unrealistic romance it tries to pass off as commonplace.

J. Mills Goodloe has had experience with adapting and writing for these kinds of sappy love stories since he’s worked on the Nicholas Sparks film “The Best of Me” and the more creative “The Age of Adaline”. Goodloe undeniably understands the formula that goes into these kinds of films and his screenplay makes sure it follows every direction. “Everything, Everything” follows the trend of teen death that films like “If I Stay”, “The Fault in Our Stars”, and more recently “The Space Between Us”, attempt to turn into a romantic romp full of adventure. These films offer the same level of emotional maturity and intelligence as a Facebook post written while you’re in high school. As an adult, you look back on them in embarrassment realizing that the false profundity is laughable and not at all reflective of the real life you have experienced. It’s the same as recognizing as an adult how creepy and toxic the story of Romeo and Juliet comes off. While “Everything, Everything” delivers a couple of changes to the dynamic we’ve seen in the past, it still mostly sticks to the “live fast, die young” mentality.

Continue reading for Jon Espino’s full review of “Everything, Everything”

in ‘Everything, Everything’
Photo credit: Warner Bros.

Continue reading for Jon Espino’s full review of “Everything, Everything”