The It Girl of “Paper Towns” is Margo Roth Spiegelman ( Cara Delevingne of “Anna Karenina”), who entranced her across-the-street neighbor Quentin ( Nat Wolff of “Palo Alto”) pretty much from the moment her family moved in a decade earlier. See Video: Nat Wolff Solves the Mystery of Cara Delevingne in New 'Paper Towns' Trailer (Video) Even if the smarmily sanctified and beautifully doomed male lead of “Fault” made you want to run screaming from the theater, you may find yourself on board with this movie’s road trip, particularly since it suggests that savvy, sexy and seemingly put-together teen characters might be nothing more than a Rorschach blot upon which others can project their own dreams and inadequacies. “Paper Towns,” an adaptation of a novel by “The Fault in Our Stars” author John Green, operates resolutely in the latter category, but it’s no less intriguing for its utter artificiality.

Other films, however, operate in a far more aspirational mode, where even the nerdy kids get a chance to date the cheerleader, and all the characters speak with the wit and wisdom of middle-aged screenwriters. Some teen movies resonate with audiences because the characters are so painfully realistic, reflecting our own awkwardness and adolescent angst back at us.

Paper towns cast