There's a lot of charm in Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. It's a story that plays well, and easily connects on an emotional level. Any time you have a young person dealing with a fatal illness it's almost impossible to avoid getting emotionally invested. I definitely welled up with tears once while watching the film, but I can't say I actually shed any tears. I'll get into the reasons why later, but I want to spend a bit more time on the overall pluses and minuses of the film. I think one of the things that I found a bit underwhelming in Me and Earl and the Dying Girl were the first two characters mentioned in the title. Both the male protagonists were a little flat. I was not impressed with Thomas Mann or RJ Cyler, and wanted them to give me more. They are playing the type of characters that I wanted to relate to closely, but I wasn't feeling it. Olivia Cooke and all of the adult cast outshone them in every way, to the point that their bland performance stood out a bit more. I did like the characters' personalities as they were written, though. It also doesn't hurt when a movie like this shows such reverence for classic film.
Now let's talk about my biggest problem with Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, but be warned the rest of this review includes some spoilers, and should be avoided by anyone who hasn't seen the film. I can accept a movie with an unreliable narrator. It's an interesting trope that can keep the audience off-balance, and lead to an unexpected conclusion. However, this didn't feel like the type of film that warranted that kind of story-telling device. It was particularly egregious when the narrator flat-out lies to the audience. I presume this was necessary because the title strongly makes it too obvious what will happen, so they just have Greg tell a boldfaced lie to everyone watching in order to attempt a surprise ending. This decision sucked a great deal of the emotion out of the climax and had me more frustrated with the protagonist rather than impacted by what was happening. I think it could be fun to watch the movie without the narration to see how it holds up when you remove the needless hand-holding and pointless lies. I still found some enjoyment from the film as a whole, but it was not as great as I wanted it to be.
Now let's talk about my biggest problem with Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, but be warned the rest of this review includes some spoilers, and should be avoided by anyone who hasn't seen the film. I can accept a movie with an unreliable narrator. It's an interesting trope that can keep the audience off-balance, and lead to an unexpected conclusion. However, this didn't feel like the type of film that warranted that kind of story-telling device. It was particularly egregious when the narrator flat-out lies to the audience. I presume this was necessary because the title strongly makes it too obvious what will happen, so they just have Greg tell a boldfaced lie to everyone watching in order to attempt a surprise ending. This decision sucked a great deal of the emotion out of the climax and had me more frustrated with the protagonist rather than impacted by what was happening. I think it could be fun to watch the movie without the narration to see how it holds up when you remove the needless hand-holding and pointless lies. I still found some enjoyment from the film as a whole, but it was not as great as I wanted it to be.