Review: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Thomas Mann plays the first of the title trio, Greg. He’s a high school senior whose mission is to be just cordial enough with all social groups so as to safely navigate his way through school without incident. Earl (R.J. Cyler) is Greg’s best friend (though Greg calls him a ‘co-worker’ so as to be detached from firm social bonds), whom he has been making low-budget spoof films (of mostly arthouse fare) with since they were kids, with such amusing titles as “Senior Citizen Kane” and “The 49^th Parallelogram”. Greg’s pushy, but loving mother (Connie Britton) urges- guilt trips, that is- him one day to call Rachel (Olivia Cooke), after learning that she has stage four leukaemia. Greg and Rachel barely know one another (they haven’t spoken in years), but his mother being pushy, he has little choice but to call Rachel. He then goes to visit her, and it’s even more awkward. However, as they start to spend more time together, something happens: They start to bond, albeit not romantically. Jon Bernthal plays Greg’s history teacher, Nick Offerman is Greg’s arthouse film buff father, Molly Shannon plays Rachel’s tipsy and depressed single mother, and Katherine C. Hughes plays the resident hot/popular girl in school who urges Greg and Earl to make a film specifically for Rachel.

 

I had heard good things about this 2015 teen flick from director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (who previously made the adequate re-do of “The Town That Dreaded Sundown”) and screenwriter/author Jesse Andrews, but what I was met with was even better than I was expecting (and not because I have an aversion to YA fiction, by the way. Just ones with sparkly emo vampires). One of the best teen movies in years, and certainly the best teen movie of 2015, it manages to be consistently funny during seemingly inappropriate moments, without actually being inappropriate or offensive (The limo driver at the prom is a particular ‘WTF?’ moment). It might still make you cry on occasion, though, so don’t think it’s all fun and games here. However, it’s complete lack of sentimentality is definitely an asset. I mean, laughing at inappropriate things is life, sometimes.

 

I hope Olivia Cooke doesn’t find herself typecast as the nice sick girl after this and “Bates Motel”, but let’s face it, she does it well. As far as I’m concerned, she’s a star begging to take flight. I really hope it happens for her one day. Thomas Mann, meanwhile is a likeable lead, which is important given early on the character really is a dick, albeit a funny and nerdy dick. Mann is certainly believable as a student of slightly below average popularity (I was a student of slightly below average popularity, possibly even lower than that, so I know authenticity when I see it). Molly Shannon, meanwhile is all kinds of inappropriate (and hilarious) as Cooke’s completely plastered, depressed mother, whilst Nick Offerman is good value as Mann’s arthouse film buff father, and Connie Britton, as always, is really lovely. More than that, she seems real. I guess the character played by Hughes might’ve warranted a bit more screen time, but that’s about it for qualms I had with the film.

 

The film’s greatest source of humour comes from the mock films Mann’s character makes with his buddy (played by R.J. Cyler). I won’t spoil all of them, but my favourites were “My Dinner With Andre the Giant”, “Don’t Look Now, Because a Creepy Ass Dwarf is About to Kill You!!! Damn”, “Breathe Less”, and “2:48 PM Cowboy” (There’s more than 40 of them mentioned in the film, so I’m not spoiling all of the good ones, I assure you). Those of you out there who aren’t film buffs will be less amused, but that’s your problem, not mine. Also, listen out for the voice cameo by ‘Wolverine’.

 

Any movie that plays the infectious main theme from “For a Few Dollars More” has to be worth a look, but this is a really strong, original, and funny teen movie with likeable characters, excellent performances and a lot of clever moments. I really liked it, one of the best of 2015 for sure.

 

Rating: B