Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Dir. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
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Me and Earl and the Dying Girl won both the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award for Drama at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, which is no surprise seeing as it's such a "Sundance-y" movie. You've got an energetic young director doing crazy camera stuff, a sickeningly quirky sense of humor balanced with teen drama, you've got a girl dying of cancer, you've got snobby references to "Criterion" movies and Werner Herzog, and throw in an angsty white kid at the center and you've got a standing ovation in Colorado. Although it's been getting a lot of buzz, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl just sort of rubbed me the wrong way. It's twee to a fault.
The plot plays out almost like if Wes Anderson directed The Fault in our Stars. High school senior Greg Gaines (the titular "me") broadly drifts between social cliques without identifying with any of them. His one true friend is Earl (RJ Cyler), who shares his love for movies, and in their spare time make shoddy shot-for-shot remakes of classic films (basically the "art house" version of the Swedes in Be Kind Rewind). When Greg's classmate Rachel (Olivia Cooke) falls gravely ill with leukemia, he and Earl make it their duty to finally craft an original film for her as a touching memento of their newly burgeoning friendship.
It's an interesting premise, and director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, whose past credits include episodes of Glee and American Horror Story, brings a lot of energy to the film, but the characters and the script are mostly insufferable. The character of Greg is a whiny bitch that I couldn't sympathize with whatsoever. His navel-gazing, woe-is-me "life crisis" was simply aggravating to me, as the film really pushes you to root for him. Earl is the stereotypical "black best friend" as he was literally born on the wrong side of the tracks. Rachel is the one character I found interesting here, but in the end, she more or less becomes just another piece in the puzzle for Greg to find out "who he is." The humor throughout didn't work for me at all either (for some reason Earl repeatedly says "dem titties" for comedic effect), and the tonal shifts between Anderson-level quirkiness and dead serious drama were off-putting to me.
Although, being a movie geek myself, I found the "swedes" the best part of the film, after a while it felt as though they simply interrupted the story - they should have been limited to a single montage instead of used as connective tissue between scenes. The entire film also has this wink-wink mentality towards its references that I found desperate (simply showing and recreating Herzog films doesn't impress me - we get it, you're cultured!). Me and Earl and the Dying Girl has a few touching moments (mostly from Cooke), some funny moments, and is overall a nice-looking, well-constructed film, but it just didn't work for me as a whole.
Rating: C+
Max
Dir. Boaz Yakin
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American Sniper meets Lassie in director Boaz Yakin's (Remember the Titans) latest film, Max. The film combines your typical "dog family adventure" film with the PTSD trauma of a back-from-the-military drama, as Max is a trained service dog who's returned from Afghanistan after his trainer, Kyle, is KIA. His family adopts the pup, and Kyle's little angsty teenaged brother, Justin (Josh Wiggins) is responsible for him. Basically, by helping re-train Max back into being a "good boy," Justin learns how to move past both the grief of his brother, and also mend the relationship with his ex-military father (Thomas Hayden Church). It's schlocky and would totally fit alongside the lineup on the Hallmark Channel, but I'd be lying if I said I felt nothing watching this movie. What can I say? I'm a sucker for sad animals.
Once Justin and Max form a bond, the plot devolves into a pretty half-baked drug-bust plot, with Kyle's military buddy, Tyler (Luke Kleintank), having some shady goings-on with arms dealers. Even though I was glad to see the film didn't keep its view of the military totally saccharine, it was more of an excuse for Max and Justin to go on some lame adventure in the woods than anything substantial. Justin's two buddies, Chuy (Dejon LaQuake) and his cousin Carmen (Mia Xitlali), were pretty lame "stock" best friends. Chuy is the type of good natured suburban "street" kid that says "yo" a lot, and almost came off as a young version of Jesse Pinkman - only, you know, without the good writing. Carmen is probably one of the better "kid" actors, and turns into a love interest for Justin, but it all feels pretty cookie-cutter. Even his relationship with the dog is nothing out of the ordinary. It seems like right away they're pals and there's no "arc" to their story together - you'd think there'd be a squeaky toy-filled dog-training montage or something.
The whole movie is pretty disposable. Almost every decision feels forced and uninspired - especially the cringe-worthy use of music (I could go without hearing Andy Grammer's "Back Home" ever again). Still, I was impressed by the dog acting, and at points my emotional buttons were pressed. The best scene in the film - SORT OF SPOILERS - is set during the Fourth of July. Kyle's parents watch the fireworks, and knowingly look at each other - without any words the film tells you that this normally carefree holiday holds a darker significance for these grieving parents. And while the fireworks are going off, Max is going apeshit because of his PTSD - reminded of the bomb that killed his owner - and Justin manages to calm him. This scene, although pretty simple, was one of the more emotionally resonant in the film, and I wish the rest of the movie were like that! As it is, it's inoffensive family entertainment that could have been amazing if it wasn't given the "Lifetime Original Movie" treatment.
Rating: C
Heaven Knows What
Dir. Ben & Josh Safdie
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Although I can't say from experience, Heaven Knows What is probably the most hauntingly accurate depiction of heroin addiction I suppose I've ever seen. That's partially due to its lead actress, Arielle Holmes, who basically acts out a fictionalized version of her own memoir Mad Love in New York City - in which she discusses her tale of homelessness and addiction in the underbelly of NYC. What results is a film that feels like a hybrid between documentary and straight drama, and it is very difficult to watch (which I guess is a complement). Heaven Knows What is unflinching to the point you want to take a shower, and Holmes gives a surprisingly authentic performance.
My one complaint is that after a while, the constant anguish gets a little monotonous; the film falls victim to the same "misery porn" as Precious, where anything and everything feels hopeless - which doesn't necessarily give the film a strong narrative thrust. Still, I think Heaven Knows What does a great job of shedding a light on this world most of us would be afraid to confront (at least I would). Also: great synth soundtrack!
Rating: B
When Marnie Was There
Dir. Hiromasa Yonebayashi
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Potentially the last film from the legendary Japanese animation outfit Studio Ghibli (though I highly doubt it), When Marnie Was There is somewhat surprisingly scaled back from their action-heavy features like Spirited Away or Ponyo. The film, based on a 1967 British children's book, follows a 12-year-old girl, Anna, who is sent to the countryside by her adopted parents to help clear her asthma, staying with relatives in a small seaside village. Anna believes her foster parents are "dumping" her off here to ignore her, and she feels depressed and lonely until she happens upon a mysterious abandoned mansion and eventually befriends a blonde-haried ghost living there named Marnie. Marnie goes goo-goo for Anna, and the two have a lesbian-ish relationship that felt pretty awkward to me (especially after we find out certain things about Marnie).
This movie just sort of bored me. The story takes a while to get moving, and when it does it felt so syrupy I couldn't connect with any of the characters. I must mention that I saw the English-dubbed version as well, which may or may not have colored my experience with the film; although Ghibli usually finds big name Hollywood stars for their productions, the kids here have that typical, annoying high-pitched "anime" voice that I found completely grating.
When Marnie Was There is predictably luscious to look at, but its story is weak and drawn out, and it's missing that "magic" of past Ghibli films - the kind that is only possible within the medium of animation. Here there weren't any sequences, set pieces, or even characters that popped out for me. Although the film toys with interesting ideas, it wasn't engaging and admittedly I fought to pay attention. Definitely not one of Ghibli's best.
Rating: C
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