A story of life and death

‘Me and Earl and the Dying Girl’ movie review

By Jerrison Oracion, Senior Columnist

5/5

If you thought The Fault in Our Stars was a touching movie about a girl who has terminal cancer, then get ready for a more realistic and honest view on the subject in Me and Earl and the Dying Girl.

In the film, Greg Gaines (Thomas Mann) writes a screenplay about how spending time with Rachel Kushner (Olivia Cooke), a girl with leukaemia, would ruin the lives of the people around him including his co-worker, Earl (Ronald Cyler II). The first half features a lot of comedic moments while the second half gets serious and shows how someone having cancer can affect a lot of people.

This film’s Greg and The Fault in Our Stars’ Hazel have something in common: they both talk about what they think is a realistic love story. Greg’s story is more realistic because it’s more relatable, while Hazel’s story sounds like a teen novel.

Similar to the character Juno using unusual slang to tell her story in Juno, Greg uses metaphors to describe different things in his life. For example, he uses a moose and a chipmunk as a metaphor for a relationship.

Molly Shannon provides comedic relief as Rachel’s mother, Denise. Hugh Jackman makes a brief appearance in the film when Greg pretends to be Rachel after she hears a comment from someone that talks about her having cancer; Greg hears Hugh ranting about playing Wolverine in the X-Men film series.

The camera movements and the descriptions in Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, such as the Part After All the Other Parts, are similar to Wes Anderson’s films. Although he is not involved in this film, the production company, Indian Paintbrush, that released his most recent films also released this one.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl also shows the appreciation of film because Greg’s father (Nick Offerman) introduces Greg and Earl to foreign films, which inspires them to make their own versions of classic films like the characters did in Be Kind Rewind. Hopefully, the DVD and Blu-Ray will include full versions of Greg and Earl’s films!

Overall, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl will cause you to laugh and cry at the same time.