ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL ****
Most of the time, the constant rush of modernity and the preoccupations of personal ambitions suffocate the ability to contemplate the small details that life presents, and that includes appreciating people that make part of one’s journey. People come, people go, and sometimes no-one is noticed. School, traffic, politics, work, insecurity, family crisis, just to name a few obstacles impossible to avoid. And for all that, there’s always the comfort of someone’s companionship to hold and to help making life even better. We all have this natural force of compassion moving us, but sometimes it needs a little push. That’s what happens to our hero here, Greg, a High School student, when his mother drags him into a difficult situation: he must become friends with his neighbor, the dying girl of the title, in order to cheer her up. He insistently refuses to hang out with the leukemia-diagnosed girl, alleging all sorts of meaningful excuses, especially the fact they have never spoken before although they go to the same school, but he surrenders to what seems right to do, starting a friendship with her.
Their incredible relationship is supported by mutual respect and their ironically well-spirited perspectives on life, and their condition, him, as a self-hated, spoiled kid who spends time making movies with his long time friend Earl, her, as a girl coping with cancer and the fact that she’s running out of hopes. At first, Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s comedy feels kind of irrelevant due to its initial approach to such tragic issue, the connection between the two kids only happen as a sacrifice or a burden, but the narrative finds its way out of it, justifying the early reactions: as they engage themselves in different activities, including making a movie for her, the film proves itself as a sensitive vehicle compromised to the responsibility of human connections and the opportunities of youth. The High School atmosphere serves as a stage for eccentric and hilarious characters, such as the group of Haters students, a harsh teacher and his mysterious hallucinogenic soup, Greg’s father’s exquisite culinary skills, and the time both kids spend learning about movies and social matters, as they watch Werner Herzog’s documentaries. It is also a feast for cinephiles with unstoppable references to many cult films, as the kids shoot their own version of “Blue Velvet”, “400 Blows”, “Death in Venice” and so on. Thomas Mann is a comedic revelation as Greg, while RJ Cyler, as the titty-obsessed Earl, is able to make you laugh just by simply looking “sleepy”. Throughout laughs and heartbreaking moments, the film brings a powerful message, reminding us of the importance of never letting go the most essential thing in life, the way we embrace and experience life and how we connect to others.
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