If you’ve heard of “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” already, it’s probably because it had the unique misfortune of being the favorite of many at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, where it also won the top prizes. Sometimes when those films finally hit theaters, you get a “Whiplash.” Other times you’re just left wondering what the Sundance altitude has done to everyone’s judgment.
In this case, there is a bit of a backlash brewing as folks see it closer to sea level and react to the early festival hype. But perhaps no movie this precious could live up to that standard. “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” might not be a perfect film, but it is small, earnest, occasionally witty and even affecting. It is flawed, yes, but forgivable.
Set in Pittsburgh, the city where all misfit youths come of age (see: “Wonder Boys,” “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” “Adventureland,” etc.), and based on a book of the same name, this is the tale of a high school senior who befriends a girl dying of leukemia.
Greg (Thomas Mann), the “me” in question, is introduced as he’s trying to begin writing the story of the movie we’re about to see. He’s the type of milquetoast nice guy who’d rather be acquaintances with everyone and friends with no one. He eats in his tattooed teacher’s (Jon Bernthal) office to avoid the social awkwardness of the lunchroom. His bedroom is adorned with a bookshelf of vintage cameras and a “(400) Blows” poster. He wears a “Nosferatu” T-shirt regularly and he makes films with his friend Earl (RJ Cyler).