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ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL

"Selfless Friendship"

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What You Need To Know:

ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL follows a Pittsburgh-area boy named Greg. Greg sneaks through life in high school by being just friendly enough with every social group. He has one friend, an African-American boy named Earl. They spend most of their free time making ridiculous, winsome spoofs of famous movies. One day Greg’s mom tells him a girl named Rachel he barely knows has been diagnosed with leukemia. She orders Greg to befriend Rachel to bring joy into her life. Greg feels he’ll be rejected, but gives it a try. Happily, he and Rachel hit it off immediately. The rest of the movie follows their growing friendship, and its impact on Greg and Earl.

Based on a popular book, ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL has some beautiful writing. The acting by the young and veteran performers is excellent. Its premise is redemptive, promoting Christian virtues, especially compassion and selfless friendship. However, it’s marred by some humanist, pagan behavior, including foul language and brief off-color content. So, extreme caution is advised for ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL.

Content:

(C, BB, H, PaPa, LLL, V, S, AA, DD, M) Light redemptive, moral worldview and premise about compassion and selfless friendship bringing people together plus some other positive content, including forgiveness and positive father figure, marred by other humanist, pagan behavior by modern teenagers that’s godless, immoral and slightly rebellious; excessive foul language includes at least 33 obscenities (including one “f” word) and five profanities; cafeteria brawl between protagonist and another teenage boy and protagonist punched in the stomach in another scene; some sexual references by teenagers and implied Internet pornography, but primary focus of movie is not on sex; no nudity; mother of protagonist’s friend seems to have an alcohol problem; smoking and comical scene makes light of two teenage boys accidentally eating a cookie laced with marijuana, but local drug dealer is negatively portrayed; and, some teenage rebellion and teenage protagonist complains to parents about mundane things.

More Detail:

ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL is about a lonely teenage boy with just one friend, whose parents make him befriend a girl dying of leukemia, and how this selfless friendship changes all three lives forever. ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL is very well acted, with some beautiful writing and a light redemptive, moral worldview, but it’s marred by some negative behavior like some crude dialogue and a scene making light of accidentally eating a cookie laced with marijuana.

The movie follows a Pittsburgh-area boy named Greg, who has little self-esteem and tries to just sneak through life at his high school by being just friendly enough with every social group. He has only one friend, an African-American boy named Earl, and the two spend most of their free time making ridiculous spoofs of famous movies.

One day Greg’s mom tells him that a girl named Rachel whom he barely knows has been diagnosed with leukemia. She orders Greg to go befriend Rachel and help bring joy into her life, since he’s so easygoing. Greg feels he’ll be rejected and doesn’t want to do it at first, but he gives it a try. Happily, he and Rachel find that they hit it off immediately.

The rest of the movie follows the story of their friendship and the impact it has on Greg as he learns to selflessly love her in a way that epitomizes Christian love (without the movie ever addressing Christianity). As he and Earl visit her daily and ride the rollercoaster of her illness, they become inspired to make a special film just for her, with strongly emotional consequences.

Based on a popular book, ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL has some beautiful writing, with some powerful images. The acting by the cast of young and veteran performers is excellent and even touching as well as funny. Perhaps, the most surprising and valuable aspect of ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL is that Greg, Earl and Rachel never get romantically involved. However, the teenagers make some crude references to sex. There is also plenty of foul language, including one “f” word and several strong profanities. Finally, one scene makes light of accidentally eating cookies laced with marijuana, but a drug dealer selling to teenagers is viewed in a negative light.

The movie’s premise is a redemptive, moral premise promoting Christian virtues, especially compassion and selfless friendship, but it’s marred by the negative behavior and content cited above. So, extreme caution is advised for ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL.

Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.


Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.