Unlike “The Fault in Our Stars,” which approaches teen cancer as a romance, this film goes for a quirky approach. Thomas Mann plays a high school senior, pressured by his mother to spend time with a classmate (Olivia Cooke) who has leukemia. He and his best friend (RJ Cyler) also make parodies of great films, a subplot that provides some witty cinema in-jokes (stay thru the credits for a complete list of titles). The film’s eccentric humor is often clever and fun, although it sometimes tries too hard. Once the story hits rocky ground, things quickly fall into emotional drama. Director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon has peppered the proceedings with witty angles (literally and figuratively) that add to the movie’s oddball charms.
(3.5 / 5)