Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (DVD REVIEW)
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
DVD
Review
by Kam Williams
Adaptation
of Bittersweet Young Adult Best Seller Arrives on DVD
High school
seniors Greg Gaines (Thomas Mann) and Earl Johnson (RJ
Cyler) are not only best friends, they're each other's only friend,
unless an empathetic history teacher counts. Mr. McCarthy (Jon
Bernthal) has taken pity on the pair, letting them eat their lunch in
his office to spare them the humiliation of being teased in the
cafeteria on a daily basis.
Terminally-insecure
Greg rationalizes their “carefully-cultivated invisibility” with
the insight that, “Hot girls destroy your life.” So, instead of
looking for love, the ostracized social zeros spend most of their
free time shooting clownish parodies of memorable screen classics.
But the 42 spoofs, sporting titles like “Eyes Wide Butt,” “A
Sockwork Orange,” “Brew Velvet,” “A Box of Lips... Wow!”
and “2:48 PM Cowboy,” suffer from such low-production values,
that the amateur filmmakers are too embarrassed to share them with
anybody.
At
the start of the semester, we find Greg being pressured by his mother
(Connie Britton) to visit the suddenly cancer-stricken daughter of
one of her girlfriends (Molly Shannon). He agrees to do so rather
reluctantly because he barely knows Rachel (Olivia Cooke), even
though, until recently, she also attended Schenley High.
However,
the two soon hit off, since they're both artsy types given to an
ingratiating combination of introspection and gallows humor. Greg
returns to her house again and again, doing his best to prop up her
spirits during a valiant battle with leukemia in which she loses her
strength and her hair as a consequence of chemotherapy.
Eventually,
he enlists the assistance of his BFF in making their first
documentary, a biopic dedicated to the now bed-ridden Rachel.
Throwing himself into the project with an admirable zeal, he marks
the production with meaningful touches like get well wishes from the
patient's family and friends, including his own repeated assurances
that she's going to beat the disease. The only problem is that the
attention paid to Rachel leaves little time for academics; and Greg's
plummeting grades have a negative effect on his college prospects.
Adapted
from the Jesse Andrews young adult novel of the same name, Me
and Earl and the Dying Girl is a bittersweet coming-of-age adventure
directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (The Town That Dreaded
Sundown). The film was very warmly received at the Sundance Film
Festival earlier this year where it landed both the Audience and
Grand Jury Awards.
A
refreshingly exhilarating, emotional and ultimately uplifting
examination of youngsters forging an unbreakable bond in the face of
a malignant force far beyond their control.
Excellent (4
stars)
Rated PG-13
for profanity, sexuality, drug use and mature themes
Running time: 106 minutes
Distributor: Fox Home
Entertainment
Blu-ray Extras: Director's audio commentary;
deleted scenes; Abstract: Movie for Rachel; This Is Where You Learn
How the Movie Was Made; A Conversation with Martin Scorcese and
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon; Greg Gaines and Earl Jackson Productions; Greg's
trailer; stills gallery; and more.
To see a trailer for Me and Earl
and the Dying Girl, visit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qfmAllbYC8
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