Directed by: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
Screenplay by: Jesse Andrews
Based on a book of the same name.
Screenplay by: Jesse Andrews
Based on a book of the same name.
It's such a beautiful film. One of the co-producers on the film is Dan Fogelman, who created This Is Us, wrote Crazy, Stupid, Love; who has this voice which inspires us to be more kind and loving. And I could see that in this film. It's such a bittersweet, beautiful film about friendship. I really liked how the film keeps teasing us with what would've happened if this was just another romantic movie. I like the dry tone of the film, and it almost seems like a heartless black comedy in the beginning, but it slowly turns into a film with a lot of heart. I like films which don't shove emotion down our throats - they just present it and let us feel. This film does exactly that. And even in the tragedy they explore, there is a poetic sense to it - the way the voice over keeps coming - sometimes she'd laugh, sometimes she wouldn't; sometimes she'd talk, sometimes she'd be quiet - there's a musical sense to the dialogue.
It's essentially a beautiful coming-of-age story of Greg, who feels like a misfit, prefers being invisible, is an outcast - and why? Because he is into weird world cinema which a lot of people don't give a shit about. Ouch. Sounds like me. Also because he works super hard and makes shitty films, at least he thinks so. Ouch. Again sounds like me. Which is why this film feels very personal. And for the first time in his life, when he shows his film to Rachel on her deathbed and sees the effect the film has on her, he is overwhelmed by this. Because he always thought that he was useless, and his films were shit. And when we later listen to the letter Rachel wrote to his school, it's so heartwarming. One of the taglines on the poster says, 'a little friendship never killed anyone'. I'm in that stage of life right now, where friendship is not in the top priorities of my life. And films like these inspire me to relook at how I look at these things.
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