I get amazed at how movies can be such an escape and this one did it for me. It is another small indie film but affects in such a big way through the story, the acting and the directing.The story is about a high school senior, Greg (Thomas Mann), his "co-worker" friend Earl (RJ Cyler) and the girl Rachel (Olivia Cooke). Greg is a reluctant kid who has spent all of his high school life trying to make as little impact as possible and making parody movies of old classics with Earl. His life and his view towards it changes when his mother forces him to meet with Rachel who has leukemia. The two grow close together and consequently the story grows to be an excellent one as well. It is essentially a coming of age drama set against a tragic backdrop.
I liked that every time I thought the movie's story was lunging into the pool of cliches, it flips around which is a refreshing change. For example, Greg agreeing to meet with Rachel not out of pity but through the forceful talking of his mother and the Greg admitting this fact to Rachel or when a scene could have been constructed as the moment when the two leads fall in love the movie brings the audiences back into reality and Greg's voiceover of this admittance was cherry on top. I
All the actors were great but the three leads and Olivia Cooke especially was outstanding. I hope to see all three of them in the future.