Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015) - Andrews' and Gomez-Rejon's quirky and sincere youth dramedy

11/10/2015

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015) - Andrews' and Gomez-Rejon's quirky and sincere youth dramedy

♥♥♥♥♥

+ Best Youth Movie of the Year

The young stars of Alfonso Gomez-Rejon's Me and Earl and the Dying Girl; Thomas Mann, RJ Cyler and Olivia Cooke adorn the poster

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is an adaptation of Jesse Andrews' 2012 debut novel, which he adapted himself, with Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (American Horror Story (2011-14)) directing it as his second feature.

Greg is a senior high school student, whose mother pressures him into spending time with a girl he knows, who is diagnosed with leukemia. Greg and his friend Earl make short films together and end up having a profound relation to the girl, as she struggles with her illness.

The film tells its story in a quirky, possibly a little over-narrated way, but as the aim is to get us into Greg's shoes, I think it accomplishes this well. Andrews and Gomez-Rejon embrace Greg and Earl's film-nerding activities, which are pretty funny, if you know some or all of the titles they are remaking. Most of this will be lost on people with little or no film history knowledge, however.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is earnest, very amusing and boasts some creatively stimulating stop-motion sequences made by Edward Bursch and Nathan O. Marsh. By its third act, the film luckily steps somewhat out of its own irony-infused comfort zone, as the story tightens. The conclusion breaks your heart, even if you are mostly 'just' pleasantly amused with the first two acts of the film.

Connie Britton and Nick Offerman in Alfonso Gomez-Rejon's Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

The movie falls in the vein of Stephen Chbosky's masterpiece The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012), without achieving that film's complete success. It also bears resemblance to the great Juno (2007), although the themes are switched around from giving birth to death.
RJ Cyler (War Machine (2016)), Olivia Cooke (Ouija (2014)) and Thomas Mann (Beautiful Creatures (2013)) give fine performances as Earl, Rachel and Greg, and Mann makes some stellar Werner Herzog impressions that are easily the film's funniest moments, (at least for Herzog fans.) Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation (2009-15)) is dryly funny as Greg's father, but it is Connie Britton (Spin City (1996-00)) and Molly Shannon (Scary Movie 5 (2013)) as the two important moms in the film that really make an impact, and both give great, affecting performances.
Finally, Me and Earl makes perfect use of Brian Eno music, especially his The Big Ship (1975), SPOILER which plays during Greg's Stan Brakhage-inspired short film to Rachel in the end.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is a film that loves film, loves life, - and which you will love.

Related posts:

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

The book cover for the movie re-print of Jesse Andrews' novel

Watch the trailer for the movie here

Cost: 8 mil. $
Box office: 8.4 mil. $ and counting
= Uncertainty
[Andrews' script came to be on the 2012 Blacklist and came to the attention of Gomez-Rejon, who used to be personal assistant and second unit director for Alejandro González Iñárritu, Martin Scorsese and Nora Ephron. The movie was shot in four weeks in June-July 2014 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, among other places in Andrews' family home, which is Greg's home in the film. The film debuted at Sundance to a standing ovation, winning both the US Grand Prix: Dramatic and the Audience Award and was picked up for distribution in a bidding war by Fox Searchlight for a whopping 12 mil. $. Despite great reviews, the film failed to set the box office on fire in a slowly growing release strategy: The film has grossed 6.7 mil. $ (79.8 % of the total gross) in North America, not impressive, especially when compared to the success of similarly themed The Fault in Our Stars (2014), which grossed 307.2 mil. $ on a 12 mil. $ budget! Me and Earl's 2nd and 3rd biggest markets are the UK (1.1 mil. $/13 %) and Australia (0.3 mil. $/3.6 %). It looks like it will end up a huge flop commercially. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is certified fresh at 81% with a critical rating of 7.6 on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl?

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William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

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11/10/2015

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015) - Andrews' and Gomez-Rejon's quirky and sincere youth dramedy

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