3 stars out of 5
For recent vintage coming-of-age movies set in Pittsburgh, Adventureland (2009) is—in my not-so-humble opinion—far and away the best. Coming in second: 2012’s The Perks of Being of a Wallflower. Taking the bronze from the Iron City? Me and Earl and the Dying Girl.
In a nutshell, our teenage protagonist befriends a classmate diagnosed with leukemia. Like Perks, this was based on a young-adult novel that I’d never heard of. (I’m an “old adult.”) And though I don’t read these books, I happen to know that the young people love, love, love the cancer. They can’t get enough of it!! It makes them feel so SAD!!! And they feel things so DEEPLY!! Oh boo hoo hoo hoo!! He/she had his/her whole life ahead of him/her!!!
Fortunately, the movie shies away from melodrama. Unfortunately, it also lacks any real nuance or the type of hyper-reality that could’ve really provided emotional resonance.
We don’t get any special insights here: High schools have cliques! Some kids fall between the cracks! Thankfully that one cool teacher really understands you. Back at home, some parents are normal, others are quirky, and some are even Jewish.
The cast is decent—they get the job done—even if there aren’t any standout performances. The dying girl is portrayed by Olivia Cooke, who also plays the dying girl on TV’s Bates Motel. Typecasting alert! The parents of our protagonist (the titular “Me”) are Connie Britton (in her very small role, TV supermom Tami Taylor is reliably good here) and a shaggy, goofy Ron Swanson who doesn’t quite ring true. Molly Shannon is pretty good as the dying girl’s mom, even if Mary Catherine Gallagher wouldn’t have been my first choice to play a Jew. (What? The year-round menorah in their living room didn’t convince you?)
In addition to being a coming-of-age tale with a dying girl in it, Me and Earl is also a loving tribute to the movies. You know, like Cinema Paradiso was and also that solid but forgettable kids’ movie that Martin Scorsese made. And just like the young people love cancer, movie critics love movies about movies. They eat them up with a spoon! And producers and directors love making movies about movies, so you YA authors should work that into your upcoming novels if you know what’s good for you. Now, whether this book/movie realizes it or not, it’s mostly a tribute to/ripoff of Michel Gondry (complete with stop-motion animation) and Gondry’s film Be Kind Rewind.
Just like in that movie, the hook here is that “Me and Earl” make no-budget homages to famous movies. The director and screenwriter of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl really, really want the audience to think that these little videos are incredibly clever and hilarious. To prove it, each video makes that poor sad dying girl start to grin widely as her eyes light up. She does the same thing each time the protagonist says something nonsensical. It’s all supposed to be “indie quirky” but it’s just kind of lame.
This isn’t to say I didn’t like the movie—I kind of did—but I just didn’t love it. I feel like the script could’ve used another draft or two (Figure out what to do with the popular girl! Give the mother some role in her child’s healthcare! Etc.) But overall, the moviemakers’ hearts are in a good place. Plus, you get some nice shots of Pittsburgh, and if you like Brian Eno, he’s all over the soundtrack. So, right after Adventureland and Perks of Being a Wallflower, this is definitely the one to see.
Jack Silbert, curator