Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (Film Review)

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is a high-school coming-of-age film which deeply admires artistic cinema—using unconventional methods while maintaining enough traditional elements to work with both mainstream and art-house audiences…in other words it’s a really good film. 

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is the yang to The Fault in Our Stars’ yin; both are well-made films dealing with the sorrows and joys of youth—all while focusing on a teenager’s(s’) struggle with cancer.  Yet the films are flip sides of each other, with Me and Earl and the Dying Girl having zero romance between the lead male Greg (Thomas Mann) and female Rachel (Olivia Cooke), an aspect Greg continuously reminds the audience—in the place of romance is a strong bond of friendship formed between the self-deprecating recluse and terminally ill teen.  Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is a comedy-drama, the rarest of the high-school sub-genres (which includes the more frequently seen comedy, comedy-romance, romance-drama and comedy-romance-drama).  The film’s comedy thrives largely on its love of artistic experimentation and the avant-garde—in one scene Greg is berated by a poster of Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine for his insensitive discussion on cancer.  A running gag involves Greg imagining a stop-motion moose trampling a chipmunk when his high-school crush touches his shoulder.  The film’s cinematography is likewise influenced by years of cinematic experimentation, with various shots using long takes, first person, extended pans, sideways angles, and low-angled viewpoints. 

The film’s characters are all exceptionally likable, in particular Greg’s father (Nick Offerman) and Earl (Ronald Cyler II).  This is one of those rare films where everyone has their own unique charm, whether it be the teenagers, parents, teachers or even Greg’s wannabe antagonists.  Getting specific here, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is any film buff’s dream come true.  Typically films of the high-school genre (regardless of sub-genre) have their characters utterly oblivious towards films released in the previous decades—somewhat fitting considering their target audience are most likely in the same boat.  On the off chance a character makes a reference, it’s usually towards the most famous of films such as The Breakfast Club, Star Wars, Die Hard, and/or possibly The Godfather if the film’s trying to seem cultured.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl throws caution to the wind by making Greg and Earl cinema lovers (whether it be silent, black and white, foreign-language and/or avant-garde), to the point of directing their own short parodies based off various film titles.  There’s at least 50 different jokes/references to films made before the 1980s—including, but not limited to: Citizen Kane, A Clockwork Orange, Midnight Cowboy, Apocalypse Now, Harold and Maude, Mean Streets, The 400 Blows, Dawn of the Dead, The Third Man, Aguirre the Wrath of God, Nosferatu the Vampyre, and many, many more Werner Herzog references.  Even the most knowledgeable of film enthusiasts may draw blanks from the film’s vast and obscure references—yet average moviegoers needn’t worry, as Me and Earl and the Dying Girl comprises such references inside its surreal comedy; providing bizarre humor for the mainstream audience, as well as a nod of acknowledgment for its art-house viewers.

Despite its title, Greg prematurely informs the viewers (twice in fact) of Rachel’s certain survival, yet there’s still uncertainty as to whether he’s telling the truth.  With any film promising not to be the typical “insert genre here” film, the stakes become raised for it to conclude in the assured, unconventional way—this is easier said than done, with such promises regularly failing to live up to expectations.  Me and Earl and the Dying Girl has a little trouble maintaining such promise, faltering slightly into habitual high-school tropes around its last third.  I emphasize “little” however, as Me and Earl and the Dying Girl remains effectively refreshing throughout the majority, with the actors playing emotionally well-versed roles.  The film never uses cheap manipulation on the viewer’s emotion—when it wants comedy it provides effective humor, when it wants drama it delivers powerful feelings.  Every year there’s at least one really good to great high-school coming-of-age film even the stingiest of snobs should watch—2012 released The Perks of a Wallflower, in 2013 The Spectacular Now, in 2014 The Fault in Our Stars, and it looks to be for the 2015 year Me and Earl and the Dying Girl.