Somehow, this unabashedly manipulative film has become a runaway financial success, and I have to say I don't get it. All of the characters are nothing more than quick sketches that are never fleshed out, right down to the main romantic couple. Heck, even the characters from the blandest dime-a-dozen big-budget action film you can think of have more dimension and personality than the ones paraded across the screen here.

Make no mistake: This movie's screenwriters didn't set out to write a story about Hazel and Gus. No, they set out to write an Emotional movie with a capital "E." I have nothing against those movies; as a matter of fact, I absolutely eat them up. But the thing is, in order to be effective, you need characters that people care about and identify with, not cardboard cutouts with about as much depth as a single sheet of paper.