Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Just what the title says. Greg’s pushy mother insists he drop by the house of Rachel, a girl he barely knows, to “cheer her up,” and “hang out,” because she has leukemia. Naturally, he would rather have his tonsils pulled out through his asshole. But against all odds they eventually hit it off. Greg and his friend Earl make funny little movies parodying great films, such as A Box o’ ‘Lips Now, about a box of tulips. Ha!

Anyway, Greg and Rachel form a friendship that grows as she goes downhill. The whole film is narrated in a way I found just a wee bit too precious. But the biggest sin here, in my opinion, is that Greg lies to us. He tells us something didn’t happen, and we find out that it actually did. I wasn’t all that surprised (I didn’t believe the little fucker, anyway) but I don’t like the “unreliable narrator” device. You can probably guess what the thing is he lied about.

I don’t want to slam it too hard. The writing is pretty good, and so is the acting. But it’s been a long, long time since I have seen a high school and high school students that bear any resemblance to my experiences in high school. I don’t know if that’s because the horrors of high school have really changed that much, or if it’s just screenwriters hyping it all up … and I don’t really care. Bottom line, I don’t believe it.