I haven't had the chance to see “Me & Earl & The Dying Girl” yet, but I'm excited that opportunity is finally here.
When I attend Sundance as part of Team HitFix every year, we divide the movies up before we get to the festival, and as a result, there are times when I miss a title that has everyone worked up, and that was “Me & Earl & The Dying Girl” this year. As soon as that first screening ended and our own Greg Ellwood started going nuts for it (along with everyone else), it seemed like a pretty safe bet that we'd get a chance to see the film this year at some point.
Between this and the documentary “The Wolfpack,” it's going to be an interesting summer for movies about why people make movies and what kind of power that process has. We live in a world where films are commodities and there is so much money at play that it's easy to forget the essence of storytelling is much deeper than that. It is so much more than just a device to squeeze cash out of people, and I love the playful quality of the art we've seen so far for “Me & Earl & The Dying Girl.”
One of the things that you'll see in the film is that the two main characters makes their own versions of famous films, and that means they make a lot of posters. Looks like Fox Searchlight took that as permission to do the same. Today, we've got not one, not two, but four brand-new posters for the movie.
Here's how you know that Fox is serious about this one. When you drive by the front of the studio in Culver City, the entire front wall is dominated with posters for this film. That's a lot of faith in a small indie about death, and I love seeing that in the middle of a season normally dominated by tentpoles.
Here's the official synopsis for the film.
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL is the uniquely funny, moving story of Greg (Thomas Mann), a high school senior who is trying to blend in anonymously, avoiding deeper relationships as a survival strategy for navigating the social minefield that is teenage life. He even describes his constant companion Earl (RJ Cyler), with whom he makes short film parodies of classic movies, as more of a 'co-worker” than a best friend. But when Greg”s mom (Connie Britton) insists he spend time with Rachel (Olivia Cooke) – a girl in his class who has just been diagnosed with cancer – he slowly discovers how worthwhile the true bonds of friendship can be.
You can find “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” all over the Internet.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MeAndEarlAndTheDyingGirl
Twitter: https://twitter.com/foxsearchlight
Instagram: https://instagram.com/meandearl
Hashtag: #MeAndEarl
“Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” is in theaters June 12, 2015.