David Lindquist

david.lindquist@indystar.com

The film adaptation of John Green's novel "The Fault in Our Stars" isn't a verbatim presentation of what happens in the book.

As Green tweeted on Friday night, responding to concerns about parts left out, filmmakers "only had two hours!"

It won't be the last time "TFIOS" director Josh Boone trims the length of a novel. He's working on a film adaptation of Stephen King's "The Stand" -- which was abridged for an 8-hour ABC mini-series in 1994. At Monday's "The Fault in Our Stars" premiere, Boone said his version of "The Stand will be a three-hour film.

Here are 10 ways the movie version of "The Fault in Our Stars" differs from the novel (beware of spoilers, if you haven't seen the film):

1. Shopping solo

Near the beginning of the film, Indianapolis teenager Hazel Lancaster (portrayed by Shailene Woodley) is seen at a mall. The location isn't labeled as Castleton Square, to match the book. More importantly, Hazel's shopping partner in the novel, her friend Kaitlyn, doesn't appear in the movie.

2. Ad busters

The film shows Hazel and Augustus Waters (portrayed by Ansel Elgort) hanging out on a past-its-prime swing set in Hazel's backyard, but it skips the book's comedic passage in which they write a classified ad to give away the swing set. One of their discarded headlines for the ad: "Lonely, Vaguely Pedophilic Swing Set Seeks the Butts of Children."

3. Happy departure

In the film, Gus rides high in a limo when arriving at Hazel's house before they fly to Amsterdam to visit novelist Peter Van Houten. This is a significant change from the book, which features a bit of foreshadowing: Hazel picks up Gus at his house, and she hears him argue with his mother behind a closed door.

4. Ex factor

The movie removes references to Caroline Mathers, the late ex-girlfriend of Gus. After researching brain cancer patient Caroline online, Hazel decides, "To be with (Gus) was to hurt him -- inevitably."

5. Paper trail

The primary way the movie streamlines the book's ending is Hazel's discovery of a eulogy written by Gus. While the book details a hunt at Gus' home, Kaityln helping with the mystery and a resolution thanks to Van Houten's assistant, the movie lets Van Houten do a good deed.

6. Med alert

Screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber used a wealth of Green's dialogue for the film. They also added this rock 'n' roll line for Hazel, who reacts sarcastically to a doctor's prescription of additional meds: "Keep 'em coming. I can take it. I'm like the Keith Richards of cancer kids."

7. Removed Ruins

In the book, Hazel and her parents have a Bastille Day picnic near the Ruins of Holliday Park. This doesn't happen in the film.

8. Art awareness

One 100 Acres sculpture makes the movie: "Funky Bones," by Joep Van Lieshout (albeit a Pittsburgh replication of the sculpture, not the original in Indianapolis). The book also includes a reference to "Free Basket," by Los Carpinteros, which is absent in the film.

9. Soap is scrubbed

The movie includes no representation of the Broad Ripple Farmers Market. In the book, the Lancaster family visits the market -- where Green sneaks in a personal nod to his mother, Sydney Goodrich Green. Similar to the market's "man in overalls," North Carolina resident Sydney makes and sells goat-milk soap for her Farmer Jane Goat Milk Soap company.

10. Station switch

In the book, Gus endures a medical emergency at the Speedway gas station at 86th Street and Ditch Road. Movie viewers see a BP.

Call Star reporter David Lindquist at (317) 444-6404. Follow him on Twitter: @317Lindquist.