Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Thomas Mann, RJ Cyler, Olivia Cooke, Nick Offerman, Connie Britton, Molly Shannon, Jon Bernthal, Katherine C. Hughes, Matt Bennett, Masam Holden, Bobb’e J. Thompson, Gavin Dietz, Edward DeBruce III, Natalie Marchelletta, Chelsea Zhang, Marco Zappela, Kaza Marie Ayersman, Etta Cox, Karriem Sami, Hugh Jackman.

Coming of age films can leave a bitter feeling in the mouth, not through the quality of the film but in how they are perceived to make older audiences feel.

For the age range they might be intended for, they are to be seen as a way of expressing enlightenment, of offering ways in which to deal with a personal struggle and a perhaps a tool to fall back upon in the desperate hours. However for anyone over the age of 21, they can represent the point of the film all too clearly, the symbolic regret that the right decision concerning someone else was never reached. It is that regret that Me and Earl and the Dying Girl captures with great charm, wit and sophistication.

Greg is a man apart at High School, he has perfected the art of being seen within all circles without even being comfortable in his own skin. Along with his best friend Earl, he is a European film fanatic and relishes the chance to remake many of his favourites but with a wonderful twist in the title to make them imaginative and cool.

When his mother tells him what she believes to be his friend, Rachel, has been diagnosed with Leukaemia, his comforting uncomfortable status takes a turn to which many teenagers would shy away from and to which many on the fringes cannot find the right words to express their feelings and emotions.

It is the hidden depths, the unseen from the prying eye in which we learn most about people and as the film develops it is a message that gets hammered home time and time again and it is one that really is worth taking notice of.

In both Olivia Cooke’s performance as Rachel and Nick Offerman’s off the wall charm as Greg’s father, the cast has both ends of the spectrum covered. One in which you cannot help but feel lost as you take on board the plight of a young woman with so much potential being gradually stolen from her and in the other, the necessary enlightenment in which to carry forth the ability to shoulder such feelings with dignity. Both these performances were faultless and elevated the story beyond what could have ended up schmaltz teen driven drama but in the end gave a smile of memory that lit up the whole screen.

It is though to Thomas Mann as Greg to which the camera and the eyes focused upon and as the awkward and socially inept young lad dealing with his new friend’s battle with Leukaemia grew into the role laid out before him, a kind of heroism took place, unexpected, cinematically unanticipated but nevertheless welcome. It was a stirring change that grew as the film developed and to one which the young man fully deserves the praise he will in no doubt receive.

A film of depth, quality, of wit and great bundles of charm, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is a film you don’t want to regret missing.

Ian D. Hall