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"Me and Earl and the Dying Girl"

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U.S. Dramatic

Friendship takes some comic and serious turns in the effectively offbeat dramedy "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl." The "me" is Greg (Thomas Mann), a self-loathing high-school senior who tries to get by as anonymously as possible, spending his off time with his friend Earl (RJ Cyler) making homemade spoofs of classic films (e.g., "A Sockwork Orange," with sock puppets as Alex and the Droogs). Then Greg's mom (Connie Britton) nags Greg into befriending Rachel (Olivia Cooke), a classmate just diagnosed with leukemia. A reluctant friendship develops, but not a romance, because as Greg's unreliable narration puts it, this isn't one of those sappy romantic stories. Screenwriter Jesse Andrews, adapting his own novel, cuts through the conventions of the cancer drama (*cough* "The Fault in Our Stars" *cough*) with sharp humor and genuine heart. Director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, a veteran of "Glee" and "American Horror Story," brings some fascinating touches, including odd animation. But the power comes from Cyler, Cooke and especially Mann, who make these teen characters feel authentic and compelling.

- Sean P. Means

"Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" is screening in the U.S. Dramatic competition of the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. It screens again: Monday, 6:30 p.m., Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, Salt Lake City; Wednesday, 2:30 p.m., Library Center Theatre, Park City; Thursday, 9:30 p.m., Redstone Cinema 1, Park City; Friday, 8:30 a.m., Prospector Square Theatre, Park City; Saturday, 3 p.m., Sundance Screening Room, Sundance resort.