Not that it's awful, exactly. It's a low-budget generic shrug of a movie, one that recycles clichs both ancient (testy drug dealers) and slightly less ancient (the hero films his life with a camcorder).

An ever-uneasy hybrid of teen angst tale and whodunit.

The starry chemistry of leads Ansel Elgort and Chlo Grace Moretz injects a modicum of energy into the coming-of-age drama, whose elements of romance, crime and smart-kid angst never coalesce.

There is undoubtedly talent here, but Gervasi's direction does little to make up for the script, which takes great liberties with Sam Munson's original novel