Delevingne dispenses dying-girl wisdom to Smith’s aspiring
Rapper in this narcissistic terminal-illness fairytale
“I don’t believe in happy endings,” Cara Delevingne shouts at Jaden Smith in this gushing, sobfest
cancer romance. She plays Izzy, a Pittsburgh teenager diagnosed with stage three ovarian cancer and given less than a year to live. Izzy is a character you might recognise from other movies: the pretty cancer-patient girlfriend. Her
Job here is to be life-affirmingly brave and then die (tastefully), thus enriching her boyfriend Daryn (Smith) with a tragic yet alluring backstory.
Which is a shame, because Delevingne gives an impressive performance; not convincing exactly, but likable and charismatic. And to be fair, Izzy is a paper-thin character – on paper, she must have looked like a collection of cliches. Izzy grows up on the wrong side of town, raised from the age of six by the babysitter after her drug-addict mum walked out. She’s tattooed and tough on the outside, with blue hair, and a sweet-natured and courageous soul.