Pre-Departure Assignment: Reviewing "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl"

Reviewing “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl”

By Ansley Walker

Director: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon 

Writer: Jesse Andrews 

Stars: Thomas Mann, RJ Cyler, Olivia Cooke

Runtime: 1 hr 45 m

Young adult films have an ascertained need to relate. Through the tried mother-daughter relationships, exhausted pubescent sex-capades, and quiet self discoveries most movie goers will feel pleased after watching a YA film, but not quite captivated.

Sweetheart at Sundance in 2015, “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” grabbed critics and crowds by the hand and danced into a raw yet comedic coming-of-age story. With a plotline that includes a dying teenager and unlikely friendships, “Me and Earl” evokes a sense of similarity after the release of “The Fault in Our Stars” and “If I Stay” in 2014. While the comparison rings valid concerning some subject matter, to say that “Me and Earl” simply co-exists in this genre is wrong.

The film breeds emotion and revelation with a maturity unseen in the young adult category today.

“Me and Earl” brings about nostalgia within any audience member who struggled to navigate their adolescence (so, everyone...). From the title break to the credits, the film confronts death in a brutally honest, somehow endearing way. Between the film’s obvious notions about friendships starting and ending, there are smaller, subdued slices of life highlighted through the lens like hanging out, fitting in, and pursuing strange hobbies that keep the story grounded.

The “me” in the film is a sarcastic, awkward teenager named Greg. While not quite an outcast, Greg (Thomas Mann) fails to identify with any social group at his Pittsburgh high school. Greg’s best friend, despite his unwillingness to title him as such, is Earl (RJ Cyler). Their relationship is centered around a shared love for classic cinema, and since their childhood, the two have connected through remaking films with punny titles. Imagine “A Clockwork Orange” as a stop-motion film renamed “A Sockwork Orange.”

Author, Jesse Andrews, adapted the screenplay from his novel of the same name. Many anticipated the failed transition from paper to video, but their fears were quelled by the aesthetic decisions made by director, Alfonso Gomez-Rejon. Gomez-Rejon’s screen work mirrors the conflicting world inside the adolescent mind: fear, confusion, and occasionally LSD trips.

Gomez-Rejon’s quiet direction and the relatable, understanding performances by Mann, Cyler, and the film’s third character, Rachel (Olivia Cooke), present a base for the sometimes bizarre cinematography to balance itself upon.

You guessed it, Rachel is the “Dying Girl”. Greg nor Earl have any sort of relationship with her in the beginning of the film. Her claim to fame in high school is that she was recently diagnosed with Leukemia—because high school isn’t hard enough. Greg’s mother (an insistent, over-involved Connie Britton) requires that he spends time with Rachel. She presents heavy resistance at first asking he not pity her. When the two finally allow the other to explore their characters is when the audience sees a shift from Greg and Rachel’s self-depreciating natures to vulnerable, coexisting humans.

The lack of a romantic relationship between the stars offers a fresh step away from the usual YA story arc. Another newly adapted form of storytelling shown in “Me and Earl” is the idea of the “self-aware film.” While some critics claimed the over reliance on clichés was the film’s most prominent downfall, I view the choice as a sardonic reflection of Greg’s narration and the need to not take life with such severity.

There’s the nagging mother and robe-clad father in the middle-class family. Add in the stoner teacher, a group of misfits, cancer-girl, and the high school hottie. It seems Andrews and Rejon cover every cliché in the book. Active audience members aren’t angered by this, but can identify the sarcastic use of clichés. It mirrors Greg’s inability to conform to a societal group and the harsh irony in finding a best friend only for her to die.

An inceptive homage to film making allows director, Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, to bring about a creative take to his own craft. The sweeping pans, a variety of close-ups, and extended takes brings the audience into the film’s atmosphere. It’s playful yet you feel the emotion at a personal level. The film is an experience, not a distraction.

So, life is weird. We laugh, we cry, we maybe try our favorite teacher’s pho to find it was laced with hallucinogens. People in our lives die. “Me and Earl” succeeds for its ability to honestly capture the human, adolescent condition, and keep you laughing along the way.