Me, Earl and the Dying Girl review (trailer)

Based on the book by Jesse Andrews, who co-wrote the screenplay with director Alfonso Romez-Rejon, this production is touching without being overly sentimental, funny without it being inappropriately comedic and quirky without being self-indulgent. It hits the right chords and elicits both tears and smiles during its journey.

The sad tale is recounted from the perspective of Greg Gaines (Thomas Mann), who it turns out is prone to bend the truth a little. He is forced by his mother (Bonnie Britton) to befriend a dying classmate and neighbour and help ease her through a tough period in her young life. The girl, Rachel Kushner (Olivia Cooke) has leukemia.

Greg is a socially awkward high school senior who is as ambivalent about the future as he is about the present. He has only one true friend, Earl (RJ Cyler), a boy he has known since grade school and with whom he makes terrible home movies which parody famous titles. Greg’s life is really going nowhere and he is avoiding applying for college, despite the relentless efforts of his mother.

His relationship with Rachel is movingly handled and forms the core of this sensitive, uplifting film. From an awkward start to its inevitable conclusion, the story is a beautifully told non-sexual romance. It embraces key issues faced by a young person having to deal with death at an age when they think they are immortal.

Greg provides a voiceover to their growing relationship, giving information which would not be otherwise available to the viewer. Each segment has a caption indicating the sort of day he expects. One reads: “Day XX of a Doomed Friendship.” Some of Greg’s thoughts and imaginings also make their way onto the screen by way of crude animated sequences.

I liked the idea of having low-profile players flesh out the characters, which gave them more credibility. Thomas Mann and Olivia Cooke are both excellent, finding just the right balance, and Greg’s character reminds viewers that cancer does not only affect the sufferer.

Molly Shannon taps into the essence of Rachel’s mother, that of a single woman coping in her own way with the distressing tragedy of watching her only child slip away. Nick Offerman is over-the-top as Greg’s offbeat father and Connie Britton, of Nashville TV fame, convinces as Greg’s concerned mother.

The film’s lighter tones never overshadow the more dramatic elements of the story and, in the end, it brings a level of rare intelligence and understanding to an emotionally difficult subject.