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| This photo provided by Fox Searchlight Pictures shows, Olivia Cooke, from left, as Rachel, Thomas Mann as Greg, and RJ Cyler as Earl, in a scene from the film, "Me and Earl and The Dying Girl." Anne Marie Fox | Fox Searchlight Pictures via The Associated Press |
Growing up, Hollywood keeps telling us, is not easy. The movies, though ,usually limit adolescence angst to getting a date for the prom – and related sexual pursuits. The hormonal inanity must insult the very audience the filmmakers seek.
Smart teens shouldn’t feel reluctant to rally around “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl,” a wry, witty and heartfelt bit of whimsy that is stuck in a too-familiar plot. In essence, it’s a cooler version of “The Fault In Our Stars,” except the sick heroine is not so plucky and the friendship, rather than the romance, is at the center.
Greg (Thomas Mann) is one of those high-schoolers who just wants to get through four years and get out. He avoids close relationships and sees the cafeteria as the most dangerous place in the world: It’s where everyone chooses their clique. He passes through unnoticed, and that’s fine.
Things get testy when his mother orders him to make friends with Rachel (Olivia Cooke), who has been diagnosed with leukemia. They’ve known each other, vaguely, since childhood, and neither is interested in the other’s acquaintance. She tells him he doesn’t have to hang around her because of pity. He thinks it makes sense. The script, by Jesse Andrews from his own novel, is pithy and to the point.
Greg’s best, and only, friend is Earl (RJ Cyler), with whom he spends a good deal of time making spoofs of art movies: “A Sockwork Orange,” “Senior Citizen Kane,” “My Dinner With Andre the Giant.”
The fine performances of Mann and Cyler fuel this little indie, and could turn it into one of those minor gems that give the movies a much-needed shot in the arm.
Mann is perfect as Greg. He’s something of a Geek but knows the score.
We also know he’ll be successful. If Mann is a candidate for best-actor accolades, Cyler is in line for supporting honors. Earl is a believable best friend – loyal but not willing to put up with a lot of mess. They are two of the best teen characters to come along since the “The Breakfast Club” and “Napoleon Dynamite.”
Rachel, on the other hand, is not as interesting because the script doesn’t let Cooke do much other than be a catalyst for Greg’s coming-of-age pangs. She starts dying much too soon, and there are moments when we wonder why he is so carried away with her (although we feel guilty for feeling that way).
The film won awards at the Sundance Festival, but it seems a Sundance winner arrives almost every week.
This one, though, would be deserving. “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” is an original.
Mal Vincent has been a longtime culture writer for The Virginian-Pilot. His work will appear occasionally in The Pilot and on Hampton.Roads.com. He can be reached at mal.vincent12@gmail.com.
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“ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL”
Three stars
Cast: Thomas Mann, Olivia Cooke, Ronald Cyler
Director: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
Writer: Jesse Andrews
Rating: PG-13 for sexual content, drug material, language and some thematic elements
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