Me and Earl and the Dying Girl Review

2015 in film

Jun 11

Written By Rendy Jones

Preview

PG13: Sexual Content, Drug Content, Language, and some Thematic Elements

Fox Searchlight Pictures, Indian Paintbrush

1 hr and 44 Minutes

Cast: Thomas Mann, Olivia Cooke, RJ Cyler, Molly Shannon, Jon Bernthal, with Connie Britton, and Nick Offerman

Editor’s Note: This review was originally published during my adolescence. Outdated language might be seen in these old posts. Since then, my thoughts and values have grown. This review is being presented as they were originally written, grammatical errors, shitty sentence structure, and typos galore. Because to do otherwise would be that same as claiming these flaws never existed.

BACKSTORY: Wednesday June 10th I go to the screening of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl in Times Square. Unfortunately I was starving and across the sidewalk was NBC workers going to the screening of Jurassic World at the same theater and believe me there was a shit ton of people. They rented out 14 theaters for that movie and gave every guest free popcorn and soda, but for us we got nothing. Well we did get a free hour of bowling coupon, but other than that nothing.

STORYLINE: 17 year old Greg has managed to become part of every social group at his Pittsburgh high school without having any friends, but his life changes when his mother forces him to befriend Rachel, a girl he once knew in Hebrew school who has been diagnosed with leukemia.

REVIEW: Indie movies from Fox Searchlight are great. Though most of them are from Wes Anderson, they're fantastic and then most of the times win Academy Awards. With Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, you get the most endearing cancer stories since Fault in Our Stars. Actually this film is a perfect double feature to play with Fault in Our Stars. They're both heartwarming,based on popular novels, funny as hell, and most of all lighthearted. Yet with this, its a bit more....artistic. This film plays out like a Wes Anderson movie and it's obviously shown. It's set in a quiet town, has weird characters, and has almost the same type of shot composition. The way how the chapters are set up play like Fantastic Mr. Fox. There is a lot of narration in this film that explains to you clearly that this was not a romantic movie almost in a satirical nod to TFIOS. I'll be damned they pull it off so well that it isn't a romance movie but more of a friendship movie. The film never contradicts itself and consistently maintains good characters and smart conversations that a lot of teenagers can relate to.You feel for Rachel and her problems and when you think the film will get sappy and too sentimental, it gets genuinely sad without manipulation with very intense arguments. By these narrations and conversations the film takes advantage to use great imagery. The film incorporates artsy parodies of old iconic films and use funny stop motion sequences. One of the best things of the film isn't just the chemistry between Mann and Cooke, but also RJ Cyler and Thomas Mann. Seriously RJ is the funniest newcomer to be introduced to film since that little boy in St. Vincent. Its not only that his lines are hilarious, but it's his facial expressions that speaks louder than words.

LAST STATEMENT: Heartwarming, earnest, and laugh out loud funny, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is one of the liveliest films this year with charismatic actors, a fun set of characters and a very smart script.