Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

2015 "A Little Friendship Never Killed Anyone."
7.7| 1h45m| PG-13| en
Details

Greg is coasting through senior year of high school as anonymously as possible, avoiding social interactions like the plague while secretly making spirited, bizarre films with Earl, his only friend. But both his anonymity and friendship threaten to unravel when his mother forces him to befriend a classmate with leukemia.

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Reviews

Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.
Tymon Sutton The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.
Matho The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.
Kimball Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.
lucigia If Wes Anderson had written and directed his high-school years - only with slightly more clichés than he'd be comfortable with - I'd like to imagine that 'Me and Earl and the Dying Girl' would be the final product. The character of Greg embodies a delightfully grounding balance of cynicism, pragmatism and child-like imagination that ultimately produces an immensely satisfying and perplexing lens through which to view the world.
sol- Life changes for a philosophical high school student when his mother guilts him into keeping a classmate dying of leukemia company in this quirky comedy starring Thomas Mann, RJ Cyler and Olivia Cooke as the three title characters. The trajectory of the film is not hard to predict with Mann (the 'Me' in the title) coming to truly appreciate his new friend and reevaluate the way he has pigeonholed all of his peers over the years. And yet, the film remains thoroughly encapsulating thanks to witty, observant narration from Mann and a fun subplot in which Mann and Cyler "swede" classic films, 'Be Kind Rewind' style. There are some well done moose and chipmunk claymation scenes too that reflect how Mann feels about the girl who he has a crush on taunting him. It is Mann's highly calculated approach to surviving the high school experience that stands out the most though with his attempts to befriend everyone and every clique at his school to avoid developing enemies. He makes for a fascinating character too with his reluctance to call anyone a true friend out of fear of rejection. The final few scenes of the film go a little overboard in his painting Man as a generous, giving and selfless soul behind his detached exterior, but there is a lot to like in the way Mann comes to realise that he is not quite as cynical as he once thought. Given the key themes of death and dying, the movie makes a sharp argument for never letting oneself get too detached in life no matter how hard some things may be to endure.
Semisonic If I had to pick a single genre of Hollywood movies to save from a global catastrophe, I'd go with the coming of age films. Because it's probably the only type of films in which it's not just about business and grossing revenues. Such movies are also a way to establish a communication between generations, to talk to our youth and both teach them something and explain that the world around isn't as cold and ugly as they might think. Not every film succeeds at that cultural mission, but at least most sincerely try. Which, in the modern world where kids are especially estranged from their parents, is a big deal indeed.Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is another step forward in this intergenerational dialogue. But, unlike some parents who honestly believe that since they are not young themselves then their kids' issues are nothing but some laughable nonsense, this film never ridicules its heroes.Nor does it oversweeten things. MaEatDG might sound similar to The Fault In Our Stars because it revolves around the topic of cancer, but, besides that, those films have nothing in common. And it's a good thing, because the last thing TFiOS had was sincerity. Instead, that movie glamorized cancer and that feeling of being terminally ill as if it's some sexy little perk that only makes you more appealing or interesting. However, death is definitely no fun, and fighting death might be an even less of it, which is the dark part of the picture MaEatDG didn't shy away from showing. Showing without making things pretty or convenient, and showing without intentionally making them too ugly to squeeze yet another tear of forcibly induced sympathy. Nah, unlike John Green, Jesse Andrews, on whose novel this film is based upon, decided to use more delicate colors and emotional intonations to make the story of Greg and Rachel both believable and relatable.One needs a big talent to make a gripping story about the things that happen to people routinely. And let's be sincere: just like becoming an adult, death is something most of us have a first-hand knowledge about. So I'm genuinely amazed how Alfonso Gomez-Rejon managed to pull off a movie so deep and touching about the issues so familiar and maybe even banal: finding your true self, establishing a real cost of friendship, learning to love others and yourself, fighting for personal liberty of creativity and choice. When we grow older, we tend to lose those memories of the time when we were still in the making as humans. And if this film manages to remind someone on the older side how it is to be that ball of clay, still unsure which shape to take, and maybe show someone on the younger side that the life is beautiful enough to find courage to explore it, then Hollywood hasn't been completely in vain.
RubenJansen97 Tiltle: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015) – No Spoilers!Characters and acting: One of the biggest pro's I can give this this movie is that all of the characters felt real in their motivations, reactions, emotions and the way they delivered their lines. The main character is portrayed by Thomas Mann. I haven't seen him in any other films, but judging by his age, he has a great career to look forward to. His chemistry with Rachel (played by Olivia Cooke) is spectacular. Not only is the build up done so well, but the way they deliver lines at each other and how the create inside jokes is a pleasure to witness on screen. I could talk for ages about the great actors in this movie, but the best way to describe them is 'real'.Story and Dialogue: The story is surprisingly simple, but that doesn't take away from the fact that the execution of it has been done with care. Thankfully the filmmakers knew about the fact that you have probably heard this story numerous times, so they found a believable way to sort of make fun of it without taking away from the tone. The dialogue is often so fun and relate able. It is filled with clever jokes or comments about high school, life or sickness. This is the type of movie where you want to grab your phone or your notes every few minutes to write down that awesome quote.Editing and Pacing: In these types of movies I'm always kind of nervous if there isn't a long middle-part where the pace hugely goes down. The length is as perfect as it can be. If it was longer it could have become boring and if it was shorter it would have been too rushed. In the terms of editing it has definitely some stand-out moments, there are some really fun stop-motion segments or creative filmmaking bits (keeping things vague because of spoilers).Cinematography and Effects: The cinematography in this film is just lovely to watch. Not only are there some really neat camera tricks but it makes use of the entire screen instead of just the middle. Aside from that, the colors and the symmetry in the short look awesome, it actually manages to make high school look beautiful. Also a lot of repetition is found between several shots with different meanings, you can really see that the filmmakers put effort in making a film with usage of visual ques to tell a story.Rewatchability: In a lot of movies like this I feel like there normally isn't much rewatchability value. Once you finally know what's going to happen it could make your second viewing less interesting. I feel like the value in this film is much greater though, mostly because of the combination of great characters mixed with genuine dialogue. I was so invested in the characters that I would mind seeing them a second, third or perhaps even a fourth time. In terms of foreshadowing, there is quite a lot of it, some of it in some small character moments that you wouldn't even notice when paying not enough attention. This would definitely make your second watching worth wile.Deeper Meaning or Motives/Themes: This movie has quite a lot to say about dealing with illness (obviously), finding your place in school or in your social life, having friends, showing yourself and being who you are and showing your creativity.Tone: The tone of the movie is so interesting. I should say it's a drama, but on the other hand, this movie is funny as hell, but I also wouldn't consider this a comedy. It's like a drama with great comedic elements. Aside from that the tone is really consistent and it didn't do anything that took me out of the movie, I stayed invested throughout the entire film.Personal Response: With the smart and fun dialogue this movie grabbed me pretty quick. Then after a while I became invested in the characters. After like half an hour I was wondering if they would go the easy way with the story. Then the movie surprisingly took a few turns that I didn't expect and it kept me interested in the story. Something really interesting that this movie did to me which had never occurred to me before was that I felt the emotion several minutes after the movie had ended. Normally there are certain scenes that give you the feels, but this time I felt it after and it still kept me engaged. When a movie can accomplish something like that, it earns my deepest respect. Conclusion: 'Me and Earl and the Dying Girl' is a believable film with wonderful portrayed characters and with great things to say about illness, social life and creativity. 10/10