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For most teenagers, the high school years are pretty stressful—balancing homework and social pressures while trying to plan the future. They’re also awkward and melodramatic and more than a little ridiculous. And the coming-of-age dramedy Me and Earl and the Dying Girl manages to blend all of those emotions in a way that’s smart and touching and undeniably entertaining.
This Sundance Grand Jury winner follows Greg (Thomas Mann) though a tempestuous senior year. Greg has put a great deal of time and energy into surviving high school, staying on good terms with all of the various factions while committing to none. He spends his lunch breaks hiding away in his favorite teacher’s office with Earl (R. J. Cyler), his partner in bad parody filmmaking. But then his mom forces him to befriend Rachel (Olivia Cooke), a classmate who’s been diagnosed with leukemia, shaking up his carefully calculated existence.
While most popular teen movies focus on either romantic melodrama or wild teenage revelry, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl remains refreshingly free of teen movie stereotypes. There are no secret crushes, no epic, life-altering house parties. Instead, it tells a story that’s hilarious and heartfelt and adorably geeky—one that will strike a chord with anyone who spent their high school years doing things that were totally uncool.
The characters are the kind that you can’t help but love. Greg is smart and sarcastic yet mildly neurotic and extremely insecure. He’s worked hard to get along with everyone and avoid the usual high school drama—yet, in the process, he’s avoided making any kind of emotional attachments. His so-called “colleague,” Earl, simply goes along with his charade, happily joining him in making ridiculous movies (like A Sockwork Orange, Eyes Wide Butt, and 2:48 PM Cowboy), fully aware that they’re actually best friends. Rachel fits perfectly into their quirky little group—a lovably eccentric girl who’s trying to fight her way through the toughest battle of her young life. And she grounds the story with an extra dose of heart.
Admittedly, though, you need to be pretty geeky to appreciate much of the humor here. You need to love movies, and you need to understand the comic appeal of Werner Herzog. You also need to be prepared to experience a roller coaster of emotions. While parts of the movie are outrageously hilarious, others are truly heartbreaking. But that’s what makes it a beautiful, honest film—because, as with real life, you never really know where the experience will take you.
You don’t have to be a teenager to identify with this charming coming-of-age story. It’s sweet and funny and refreshingly different—a memorable film about making friends, making movies, and growing up. Be sure to take a break from the big, noisy action movies of summer to check it out.
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