Publications
Partners
What it's about:
High schooler Greg, who spends most of his time making parodies of classic movies with his co-worker Earl, finds his outlook forever altered after befriending a classmate who has just been diagnosed with cancer.
What we thought:
I have to admit I'm a sucker for coming-of-age films and this one is no exception.
And before you think ‘Oh no another movie about someone dying from cancer’, unlike The Fault in Our Stars, which a takes on teen cancer as a romance, this film goes for a quirky approach.
Thomas Mann plays a high school senior, pressured by his mother to spend time with a classmate (Olivia Cooke) who has leukemia. He and his best friend (RJ Cyler) also make parodies of great films, a sub-plot that provides some witty cinema jokes, which I have to admit I didn’t fully understand.
But with that being said the film's eccentric humour is often clever and fun, although I do think reading the book is vital (which I didn’t, my bad, but also taught me a valuable lesson – READ the book especially if the movie turns out to be SO good).
So besides not reading the book, the performances are great from all the unknown young actors. Thomas, Olivia and RJ perfectly played the oddball, awkward yet charming characters that Jesse Andrews (the author and screen writer of they movie) envisioned of Greg, Rachael and Earl.
I really appreciated the way the movie mixed comedy and drama by creating funny, heartwarming and touching moments. This movie reminded me of when I first watched Juno, it pushed all clichés aside, creating a unique film in its own way.
It showed an honest look at high school, friendships from beginning to end, guaranteed to make you fight back tears (and yes there were plenty of tears). And yet it definitely proved to not be another “cute teen with cancer” movie, believe me.
Well this may sound like a depressing movie, this proved to be a funny and seriously well-written comedy that just makes you smile.
