Me & Earl & The Dying Girl is bound to instantly become a teen classic in the same league as Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Breakfast Club, The Outsiders, Dazed & Confused, ETC. It is a wonderful film that shares a lot in common with 2012's excellent The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, not the least of which is proof that an author adapting their own book works wonderfully. However, this heart tugging comedy/drama from writer Jesse Andrews and director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon totally manages to find a voice and spirit all its own. The wonderful cast is definitely one of the main if not the main reason for this film shining through so much. If there is a better film in 2015, it's certainly not going to come out until Oscar season.
The film stars Thomas Mann as Greg, a nerdy kid whose parents (Connie Britton and Nick Offerman) love him but have a strange way of presenting it. His only real friend is Earl (Ronald Cyler II,) although Greg seems to have nailed the whole floating on by during high school thing. One day, his mother forces him to visit Rachel (Olivia Cooke,) a socially awkward classmate of Greg. Despite both of them being reluctant, they discover they're really similar. Both have big hearts that they hide in a web of shyness and Rachel even loves Greg and Earl's hilarious parody films (such as Senior Citizen Cane instead of Citizen Kane.) Eventually, Greg and Earl agree to make a film for Rachel about what she's been through and why she's so great.
Coming of age/teen films seem to be high quality stuff as of late (The Way Way Back, The Fault In Our Stars, The Kings Of Summer, ETC.) However, Me & Earl & The Dying Girl may be the best of the lot. The greatness of this film is how it flips every cliche you are tired of seeing in these types of films on their head. For a film about a girl dying of cancer, it is extremely funny and knowingly pokes fun at itself. The film is also both sad and uplifting without hitting a false note for even a second.
This wouldn't work as well if it weren't for the acting, however. Mann and Cooke have been good actors for a while now but they do groundbreaking work here. Their chemistry is magnetic and they both play their characters so convincingly that I never once saw through their performances. They make these two characters, both of whom easily could have been cloying and unbearable, instantly recognizable. When you walk out on the street, you constantly see Greg and Rachel. These are not so much characters as they are real human beings.
However, the standout here may be Cyler II. Although the film focuses less on Earl, this newcomer gives the best performance I have seen in years. He shows every inch of vulnerability and skepticism in this character while still making him an incredibly charming and confident person. This is Cyler II's first film but it certainly won't be his last. This young actor is going places. Britton and Offerman also get a lot of real nice moments and even Molly Shannon, who I usually don't like at all, is very good as Rachel's devastated mother who is touched by Greg's offering of friendship. These performances are bolstered to even higher levels of greatness by the brilliant writing of Andrews and the fabulous direction of Gomez-Rejon, both of whom should be studied to show how to flawlessly construct a film for decades to come in film classes.
I honestly can't remember loving every second of a film as much as I did with Me & Earl & The Dying Girl. No one should miss this funny, touching, sad, uplifting, sweet, clever, stunning and altogether spectacular piece of film making. There is honestly not a single person who I think would dislike this film. When it ended, I just wanted to see more. If this comes anywhere near you, run out and see it. You'll thank me later.
(5 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated PG-13 for sexual content, drug material, language and some thematic elements)
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