Movie Review: "Me And Earl And The Dying Girl"

"Me And Earl And The Dying Girl": B.  I had no intention of seeing Me And Earl And The Dying Girl until I received an e-mail from my pen pal, Colin Covert, praising the film as "a wonderful movie just crammed with talent and creative energy."  Covert is the film critic for the Star Tribune, so yes, I am name-dropping a little bit here.  I refer to him as "my pen pal" because he is one of the few Strib journalists who is kind enough to respond to my e-mails.  In fact, he always responds.  I had written to him asking if he'd seen Testament Of Youth (reviewed here June 30, 2015; B), for which the Strib had used a review by New York Times critic Stephen Holden.  It turns out Covert had not seen that picture, and in closing steered me to Me And Earl.

The story is about three high school friends, Greg (Thomas Mann), Earl (Ronald Cyler II) and Rachel (Olivia Cooke), classmates at a Pittsburgh high school.  The two guys are best buds who share movie-making as a hobby.  The titles of their short, low budget films are take-offs on familiar sayings, slogans and movie titles such as My Dinner With Andre The Giant, Senior Citizen Kane and Anatomy Of A Burger.  Greg and Rachel have known each other since grade school, but have traveled in different circles within their high school as they grew older.  It isn't until Greg's mother (Connie Britton of TV's Friday Night Lights fame) informs him of Rachel's cancer condition that he and Rachel reconnect, albeit mutually reluctantly.  He is brutally honest when, without prompting, he reveals to Rachel that his mother is the one who suggested he pay her a home visit.  Rachel does not take offense, instead appreciating such candor. She is bemused by his simple charm.  More visits ensue.  Many of the movie's scenes occur in her spacious bedroom, where she has a collection of offbeat pillows and, of all things, scissors.

Greg's initial plan for surviving senior year was to be cordial to each of the wide varieties of cliques and other social groups, while simultaneously avoiding membership.  His approach is to be an acquaintance to all but not close friends with any, except for Earl.  But the more he talks with Rachel, the harder it is to stay aloof.  Little by little he puts his friendship with her on higher priority levels, even to the point of starting on a movie project with Earl which is tailor made for Rachel.  Her disease is no longer the impetus for his frequent visits.

Greg was never a stellar student, settling for average grades.  Now that he's a senior his mother insists he's got to get serious about college plans.  She has him carting around an eight hundred page college guide, and even suggests Princeton as a school to which he should apply.  Clearly she is clueless, but at least he has in his life a history teacher, Mr. McCarthy (Jon Bernthal), who can relate to kids and offer sage advice from time to time.  Greg and Earl make themselves at home in McCarthy's office, even when the teacher is elsewhere.  Unfortunately, the more time Greg devotes to Rachel, the less he focuses on his already precarious schoolwork. 

 

Me And Earl, told in a first person narrative from Greg's perspective, is a coming-of-age story.  Even though the time span is a single school year, it reminds me a lot of 2009's 500 Days Of Summer, to which I gave a pre-blog rating of B+ and is likewise told from the male's perspective.  Coincidentally, both movies use the device of compartmentalizing sections of the story with on-screen chapter titles. 

 

Me And Earl is a true-to-life portrayal of what it's like to be a high schooler who is so normal as to be almost hidden in plain sight; not a jock, a climber, a party animal, a scholar, a stoner or a trouble maker.  Just an average joe with a couple of close friends who, despite his plans for an uneventful senior year, instead experiences one which will stay with him a long time.