WASHINGTON — “Jurassic World” may聽devour it at the box office this weekend, but don’t you dare miss聽this year’s Sundance champ, which聽offers a different take on the notion that “life finds a way.”
“Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” finally聽gets its D.C. release on Friday, months after winning both the聽Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival. If recent winners are any indication —聽“Beasts of the Southern Wild” (2012), “Fruitvale Station” (2013) and “Whiplash” (2014) — expect to hear plenty of buzz about this聽indie masterpiece聽come award聽season.
Directed by Emmy-nominee聽Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (“American Horror Story”) and adapted by Jesse Andrews from his own novel, the film follows聽awkward Pittsburgh high schooler聽Greg (Thomas Mann), who spends his free time聽spoofing聽classic films聽with his best bud Earl (R.J. Cyler).聽Everything changes when he meets Rachel (Olivia Cooke), who has just been diagnosed with聽leukemia.
Mann and Cooke joined WTOP聽to discuss their Sundance sensation, which will聽make you laugh your butt off and cry your eyes out — then cheer at聽what you’ve just witnessed.
“We never expected anything like the reception that it got at Sundance. I was just excited 迟辞听驳辞听to Sundance,” Mann tells WTOP.聽“It definitely feels like a turning point in some sort of way.”
Mann says the role聽leapt off the page the minute he read it.
“I was doing a bunch of movies that were not really satisfying me and I felt like I was stuck in this rut of playing the reserved, innocent teenager that hasn’t really found himself yet. In聽a way, this was the end-all, be-all of those characters. Yes, he is sort of sensitive and insecure, but he’s also confident and so smart. He’s someone who has all the answers, but he’s too stubborn and selfish to make use of them, and he was just so much more complicated than a lot of other characters that I read.”
As for Cooke, it provides her best performance to date, upping the ante after聽the critically-panned horror flick聽“Ouija” (2014) and the critically-acclaimed TV聽series “Bates Motel” (2013),聽where she plays聽the best friend of young Norman Bates (Freddie Highmore).聽In the latter, her character battles聽cystic fibrosis, but聽Cooke says she approached聽that role in a聽“completely different” way.
“I didn’t even approach the character as this sick patient, because as soon as you do that, then she becomes a bit dim,” Cooke says. “With my character on ‘Bates Motel,’ sometimes I聽forget that聽I’ve got聽cystic fibrosis because she’s so strong. The聽same thing with Rachel. She’s the stronger one out of Greg and Rachel’s relationship, and she’s the one that wants to help him realize his full potential.”
Together, the two are emotional dynamite, fluctuating from hilarious to heartbreaking.
You’ll laugh out聽loud as they demonstrate their trick for dealing with obnoxious聽classmates聽鈥� start convulsing聽so they stop talking to you.
“Mine’s more like a seizure聽and yours is more like a worm movement,” Mann聽says, laughing.
“A worm convulsing,” Cooke adds. “You just feel it. It’s like a dancer. You know when the music hits you and you’re like, ‘I’m just gonna let the body do what it’s gonna do?’ That’s what it was like.”
Suddenly, the comedy shifts to drama at聽the drop of a hat 鈥� a cancer cap revealing a chemo-ravaged scalp — as the duo yanks our heartstrings with the weight of mortality.聽Forget “Love Story” (1970). These “Juno”-style smartasses would gag at the phrase聽“love means never having to say you’re sorry.” For them, love means never having to cut away from a聽static, five-minute single take.
“I’m really in awe with聽that scene. The most聽proud of I’ve ever been of a performance,” Cooke says.
“It plays out as so authentic,” Mann says. “It聽has this beautiful arc to it.聽It starts off so light and then naturally takes a turn and is really heartbreaking by the end.”
In this way, the scene is a microcosm of the entire film’s arc.
Gomez-Rejon opens聽with the comedy of flashy pans and tilts, locked off with a precision聽to rival聽Wes Anderson. At times, the camera turns sideways as we dolly down the street. Other times, we get a three-beat salvo聽of cuts for emotional impac. Just as Hitchcock pushed in three times on a聽victim in “The Birds” (1963), Gomez-Rejon pulls out three times on the chaos of a high school cafeteria.
But it’s not all flash. Notice the symbolic choices, like the deep-focus shot showing extreme distance between Greg and Rachel during their first meeting. The illusion of聽distance — with the proper lens — speaks volumes. Just ask聽Mrs. Robinson in that famous hallway shot of “The Graduate” (1967).
Such cinematic language isn’t the only realm where聽Gomez-Rejon references his favorite flicks. He does this more overtly in the聽homemade聽movie spoofs聽that Greg and Earl shoot with adorable amateur quality, achieving a realism to counter the fantasy of J.J. Abrams’ “Super 8” (2011).
Cinephiles will howl each time these clips come on screen with purposely-lame titles. “A Clockwork Orange” meet聽鈥淎 Sockwork Orange.鈥澛�“Midnight Cowboy” meet “2:48 Cowboy.” “Apocalypse Now” meet聽鈥淎 Box o’ Lips, Wow.鈥� Cooke tells WTOP her favorite is “Burden of Screams,” spoofing the documentary聽“Burden of Dreams” (1982) about聽Werner Herzog’s making of “Fitzcarraldo” (1982).
While a聽few聽Hollywood classics make the cut 鈥� from “Vertigo” (1958) to “Blue Velvet” (1986) — the majority are obscure foreign flicks of the Criterion Collection variety. This runs the risk of “inside baseball,” no doubt stripping the humor for some viewers, but聽film buffs will be in heaven.
“It’s聽a lonely life being a cinephile. I feel like I spend a lot of time at home just watching films,” Mann says. “I wanted to watch all the films that they parodied, because I just thought it would be dishonest to be parodying films that I hadn’t seen. I wanted to like them the way Greg liked them, and talking to Alfonso, his love for film is so infectious.”
Perhaps this聽passion will inspire casual viewers to聽check out films they otherwise wouldn’t. Or, perhaps聽the movie is charming enough to capture audiences in spite of it. Either way, you’ll leave the theater feeling wiser, equipped with the life lesson that聽you’re never done learning about a person — even after they’re gone — just like you’re never done learning about聽movies聽even聽after the credits.
“It’s been so overwhelming,” Cooke says. “Just everyone involved worked their butts off. They really did. Everyone put so much heart and soul into it, so it feels good that it’s happened for everyone involved. I’ve never been on a set where every single person has just given so much of themselves.”
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The above rating is based on a 4-star scale. See where this film ranks in Jason’s . Follow WTOP Film Critic Jason Fraley on Twitter . Listen to the full interview below, but a word of caution: the聽conversation gets pretty graphic:
