SummaryThe eight-part adaptation of John Green's novel of the same name where Miles "Pudge" Halter (Charlie Plummer) transfers to a boarding school and becomes friends with Alaska (Kristine Froseth), Chip (Denny Love), Takumi (Jay Lee) and Lara (Sofia Vassiliev).
SummaryThe eight-part adaptation of John Green's novel of the same name where Miles "Pudge" Halter (Charlie Plummer) transfers to a boarding school and becomes friends with Alaska (Kristine Froseth), Chip (Denny Love), Takumi (Jay Lee) and Lara (Sofia Vassiliev).
For an audience that grew up with those shows [“The O.C.,” “Chuck”, and “Gossip Girl”], “Looking For Alaska” creates the perfect wave of nostalgia, one that will send those memories flooding back to that time when everything was life and death and your very being was defined by things like your love of specific music or book or art. ... “Looking For Alaska” is your standard, tried and true, coming-of-age story. And for that, it stands out from the rest.
An endearing and often-poignant eight-part adaptation of John Green’s first novel. ... They [writer-producers Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage] are aided in this mission by performances that are every bit as refreshingly genuine as the writing.
I wanted to follow-up with a review, as I thought the series was comparable to Netflix's "13 Reason's Why". In this case I thought "Looking for Alaska" had much stronger characters with superior acting to the afore mentioned. The story was well developed from John Green's novel, who is also known for the popular "The Fault in Our Stars". If you haven't watched as of yet you should, and kudu's to Hulu for putting together a well thought out and quality series. Christopher Plummer has quite a resume and love his talent, but for me Kristine Froseth as Alaska steals the series and also I might mention Ron Cephas Jones as Dr. Hyde provides some great stuff as one of the teachers. Again a great adaptation, coupled with a great script and some superb acting not to be missed!!
Besides the fact that they foreshadow a huge moment of the story in the first episode, I actually feel like this is one of the rare book adaptations where the adaptation is better than the book it's based on. The story is adapted from the book almost page for page with only a few changes. The soundtrack is killer, especially if you grew up in the early 2000s. And, for a YA focused story, they nailed the emotional impact of the second half of the story. This has to be one of the best teen drama shows released in a long time.
The catharsis feels earned, as does the level of answers that Schwartz, Savage, and company choose to provide about what happened and why. It’s a familiar coming-of-age story, but one executed at a high level, and with far more thought than usual given to all the kids who were forced to grow up long before the main character has to.
Dominated by Froseth and the solid young cast, it's a solid adaptation of a much-loved book, even if its successful adapting can't always fix its problems.
Looking for Alaska feels like a period piece that hasn’t fully reckoned with itself as a period piece, and some of its nostalgic impulses feel out of step with how brutally, gorgeously sad it is. It’s not a happy story, and the final episode swerves a bit too far in the direction of trying to make things feel all better. But for the most part, it’s the rare adaptation that dismantles the original in order to build something that works better.
This is all pretty stiff, predictable stuff, built around the operatic pangs of teen romance and the mystery of Alaska's fate, with peripheral forays into class and racial divides. All told, the eight-episode limited series is a pretty slim if earnest conceit.
“Looking For Alaska” is nostalgic for itself, like it’s admiring itself in a mirror instead of making eye contact. This neutralizes the immediacy and intimacy that can make coming-of-age stories so special.
Looking for Alaska is one of my favorite books. It had such a profound effect on me when I was a teenager, and I have been looking forward to this adaptation for years. The show was cute, but I definitely felt like it was a little too pretentious and melodramatic for me to get attached to it these days. I must have just grown out of this story. However, I think teens now will definitely love and relate to the TV show as I related to the book when I was a teen. I don't think it's bad at all, it was just a little too dramatic for my taste.
Ugh - how did this crap get good reviews? This is the most artificial, pretentious, precious bunch of characters masquerading as teens. I think the creators think they are cool and quirky, but they are horribly annoying, especially The Colonel. Green must have been such a wuss in high school.