Paper Towns - C+

Rated PG-13, 109 minutes

"Paper Towns" is a charming young adult coming-of-age dramedy with some good aspects - namely its appealing, breakout leads - though its story lacks the substance of others in this genre and tends to play it too safe. Quentin "Q" Jacobsen (Nat Wolff, the scene stealer from "The Fault in Our Stars") lives next door to enigmatic Margo Roth Spiegelman (British actress Cara Delevingne), his childhood neighbor from whom he has since drifted, but still has feelings for. One night, when she climbs through his window and summons him on an all-night trip of revenge, he can't help but follow her lead. The next day Margo goes missing and Q soon learns that there are clues in her disappearance that seem to be meant for him to make sense of. In his quest for true friendship and love, Q becomes unsure exactly where this adventure might lead him. Based on John Green's best-selling young adult novel of the same name, "Paper Towns" is directed by Jake Schreier ("Robot & Frank") and written by Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber, the team behind Green's "The Fault in Our Stars" film adaptation and "The Spectacular Now" and should be a hit with the young female set this primarily appeals to. The movie is a mixed bag and could've been essentially a contemporary, more winsome "Perks of Being a Wallflower" as it follows three nerdy pals - played with geeky energy by Wolff, Justice Smith and Austin Abrams - striving to find love with their ideal women, which looks different to all of them. On that note, when it focuses on the friendship of these geeks "Paper Towns" works best (highlight: the trio singing the "Pokemon" theme song), but it tends to lose its way in the last act spending way too much time on an unnecessary, fruitless road trip to find their eccentric friend. It seems a waste given the disappointing outcome (the script, unlike the book, doesn't really bring that out), and the movie seems to only scratch the surface of teenage rebellion or true love: falling in love with a real woman, or what your ideal image of your woman is. A modestly entertaining effort, "Paper Towns" is memorable for its breakout stars Wolff and Delevingne, a lovely presence whose role seems minimal here, who seem destined to be the next Shailene Woodley and Miles Teller (who cameos here along with Ansel Elgort), but just know this is junior league stuff compared to the aforementioned "Fault," "Spectacular Now" and "Perks." The characters here speak of each other here as "something special" - too bad the movie doesn't quite measure up to that.