ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL review by Rahul Vedantam – easily one of 2015’s best films

ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL review by Rahul Vedantam – easily one of 2015’s best films

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ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL is a personal tale. It invites us into the close relationship between Greg (Thomas Mann) and Rachel (Olivia Cooke). It invites us to watch them cope with mortality and the realities of life. It invites us into Greg’s mind’s eye as he tries to deal with Rachel’s probable death. The flavor of the film stems from Greg’s point of view permeating throughout the story. It also adds a ton of laughs, making for both a heartfelt and humorous flick.

Greg is an unremarkable kid, but that is by design. And he is not so unremarkable to thereby be remarkable for such. His brilliant plan for high school is to be on palatable terms with every clique and “gain citizenship in every country.” His only real friend is Earl (RJ Cyler), who he refers to as a “co-worker” partly because the two of them have been making knock-off films together since childhood, and partly because his special brand of self-loathing and awkwardness refuses to let himself acknowledge others as friends.

When Rachel, the daughter of his mother’s friend, gets diagnosed with leukemia, he is forced by his mother to spend more time in the nation “Jewish girls sub group 2A.” As they spend more time together she forces him to grow up and gain some self-confidence and ambition for the future, while she slowly loses hers. The only thing that keeps her happy is watching all the dumb films Greg and Earl have made throughout the years: A Sockwork Orange, 2:48 PM Cowboy, and Pooping Tom are a few examples of their lo-fi remakes.

As Greg narrates the development of his relationship with Rachel, the film itself reflects through camera placement, title lines on screen, and trips to the mind’s eye of our protagonist. While all three main characters are funny teens (a young Earl tries to provoke a “punk ass cat”), much of the humor comes from seeing the film in Greg’s perspective. Titles pop up such as when Earl first shows Rachel the films and Greg thinks “Part 7: Where we find out Earl is scared.” Or the visual metaphor of a Claymation moose trampling on a chipmunk every time he interacts with the hot girl character. But it also lends towards much of the drama as Greg’s voiceover lies to himself about the future. The long shots ruminate in the awkward silence of a first meeting, but also lend to the realism of the fight.

This film is not another THE FAULT IN OUR STARS. A romantic relationship is never implied, and whether or not it could have been there isn’t really important. Director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon makes an earnest film about kids dealing with mortality, and the consequences of such. The acting is phenomenal on every end, with Olivia Cooke needing special accolades. Nick Offerman, Jon Bernthal, and Connie Britton are fantastic and hilarious in their roles as mentor figures. “Indie” is a specific or fair term when describing a film, but many indie film nowadays are putting in work to make the visual medium more interesting that the nomenclature in itself can be a compliment on the energy the film brings to the table.

ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL is a great film that resonates with THE SKELETON TWINS in many ways in the way humor and drama can be combined, but Rejon’s production goes a step further in its personality to make the film better.

ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL opens in Dallas on June 19, 2015

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