Director: Alejandro Gomez-Rijon
By Alex Watson
Surrounded with an irresistible charm, Alejandro Gomez-Rijon's Me And Earl And The Dying Girl is one of 2015's most off-beat comedies. A breakout success at this years Sundance Film Festival,where it won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic and the Audience Award for U.S. Drama.. Carrying a huge heart throughout its running time, this movie skillfully mashes a bittersweet feel alongside a quirky and real style of humour. This makes it one the most original and enjoyable works you will see this year.
Greg Gaines (Thomas Mann) is an ordinary teenager who purposefully flies below radar during his time at school. With his friend/co-worker Earl (Ronald Cypher II) the pair make movies based on old film classics. One day he is reluctantly forced by his over-bearing mother (Connie Britton) to pay a visit to neighbor Rachel (Olivia Cooke) who has recently been diagnosed with Leukemia. What develops is a caring yet unconventional friendship that will perversely affect Greg throughout his senior year.
The slacker humor of Me And Earl And The Dying Girl is what makes Gomez-Rijon's movie shine brightest. Greg is a young man who has no plans for his future apart from making his low budget films with Earl that parody popular classics (just what how inventive they get). He sports a drastically low opinion of himself and prefers not to get close to people. Earl is always referred to as his 'co-worker' and even though he obviously cares for him. At school he is the one who likes to be at peace with all possible social groups rather than develop any real relationships. Developing his bond with Rachel is a task that he at first finds hard and constantly feels like it is a burden.
As the film develops, Greg begins to become a new man the more time he spends with Rachel. Alongside this there is always a sense that sadly the clock is beginning to run down. This girl is a likeable character and you can only wonder where both lives would be had this obstacle not been in the way? However, as her illness begins to develop, the film's feel takes a turn into a more heart rendering place. Tough decisions have to be made and for once, Greg has to decide just what kind of man he wants to be? His inability to do anything selfless is called out on by numerous people throughout. Thanks to the wonderful direction of Gomez-Rijon, he shows a caring and inherently sweet individual lurking below.
Written for the screen by Jesse Andrews (who wrote the original) this movie has an assurance about itself that never feels over-confident. The characters along with the general feel is one that is very authentic. Gomez-Rijon emerges a major talent with Me And Earl And The Dying Girl. His playful presentation anyone of the parody films that Greg and Earl come up with surrounds the movie with a funny air. It is his handling of the more emotional content in particular that deserves praise. Not once does he play things strictly to make tears flow, instead he gives things a lighter touch and shows what joy Greg brings to Rachel. This could well have been yet another weepy re-tread of The Fault in Our Stars, but in the hands of Gomez-Rijon it is a winner.
This picture also sports a perfect cast which is led by the downbeat humour of Thomas Mann. His performance charges the slacker feel and he excels as the wayward teen who wishes only to exist. Mann excels during the movies finale third when more is demanded emotionally. Ronald Cypher II makes for a great running as the equally lazy Earl. Their relationship is one that cannot be defined simply, Earl likes hanging around him but seems frustrated he won't just call him a friend. British actress, Olivia Cooke is the one who truly steals our hearts as Rachel. Cooke gives a realistic and funny look at a girl who just wants to enjoy herself while she can. Anyone who has viewed her previously on the Bates Motel, knows her ability to effectively play a girl who is suffering.
Me And Earl And The Dying Girl is this year's landmark in indie cinema and has deserved the honors bestowed upon it. For an arresting and differently funny experience, I urge you to seek this picture out.
No comments:
Post a Comment