Love, Simon
3.5/4
Starring: Nick Robinson, Jennifer Garner, Josh Duhamel, Katherine Langford, Alexandra Shipp, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Logan Miller
Rated PG-13 for Thematic Elements, Sexual References, Language and Teen Partying
I suppose it would take a gay filmmaker to make this movie. This film version of the book by Becky Albertalli, is so knowing, so honest, and so real that only a person who has been through it could understand the pain, the confusion and the desperation of a teenager realizing his sexuality. I kept nodding my head, smiling and grimacing through the events on screen that so closely mirrored my life growing up.
Simon (Robinson) is a normal teenager counting down the days until he graduates from high school. He also has one very big secret: he's gay. No one knows. Not his laid-back parents Emily (Garner) and Jack (Duhamel) nor his friends Leah (Langford), Abby (Shipp) or Nick (Lendeborg Jr). But when an anonymous student confesses that he's gay as well, Simon reaches out to him. Calling himself "Jacques," he falls for "Blue." Trouble starts when the drama club's dork, a weird kid named Martin (Miller), screenshots the emails he accidentally left on the school computer. Martin won't release them...if Simon can get him closer to Abby.
"Love, Simon" is filled with so many moments of truth that I think it would be a great learning experience for parents of gay kids or friends of gay people. Or, if they can overcome their prejudices, people who are afraid of gay people. It knows exactly how it feels to be in the closet, and the lengths one must go to protect themselves. The double talk, the paranoia of someone finding out, the fear of rejection from friends and family (no matter how much you know they'll be supportive). Greg Berlanti, who is gay, must be drawing from personal experience. These scenes feel too real not to have been.
A cast of strong young performers helps immensely. Nick Robinson, so awful in "Jurassic World," is excellent in the tricky role of Simon. He has to be convincing as a normal guy whose sexuality causes him as much elation as pain. It's a performance that has few big dramatic moments but is absolutely on target. Name actors Jennifer Garner and Josh Duhamel on hand to lend some star power as the most understanding parents since Eugene Levy in the "American Pie" movies. Logan Miller, the scene-stealer in the totally underrated "Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse," continues to demonstrate great range as a villain who is driven by more than just malice. Performances by the other members of the cast are rock solid. The only character who doesn't work is Mr. Worth, the vice principal played by Tony Hale. He's so broad and over-the-top that he becomes a major irritant from the first time he appears on screen to the last.
What ultimately makes this film work is that these characters feel like real people, and nothing that happens to them is unbelievable. There's no amped-up melodrama or shocking plot twists; these people behave exactly according to their natures. Sure, the ending is a little cornball on paper, but as presented here, it works. I wouldn't mind spending more time with these characters, even if the story has already been told.
This is one of the year's best films.
Starring: Nick Robinson, Jennifer Garner, Josh Duhamel, Katherine Langford, Alexandra Shipp, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Logan Miller
Rated PG-13 for Thematic Elements, Sexual References, Language and Teen Partying
I suppose it would take a gay filmmaker to make this movie. This film version of the book by Becky Albertalli, is so knowing, so honest, and so real that only a person who has been through it could understand the pain, the confusion and the desperation of a teenager realizing his sexuality. I kept nodding my head, smiling and grimacing through the events on screen that so closely mirrored my life growing up.
Simon (Robinson) is a normal teenager counting down the days until he graduates from high school. He also has one very big secret: he's gay. No one knows. Not his laid-back parents Emily (Garner) and Jack (Duhamel) nor his friends Leah (Langford), Abby (Shipp) or Nick (Lendeborg Jr). But when an anonymous student confesses that he's gay as well, Simon reaches out to him. Calling himself "Jacques," he falls for "Blue." Trouble starts when the drama club's dork, a weird kid named Martin (Miller), screenshots the emails he accidentally left on the school computer. Martin won't release them...if Simon can get him closer to Abby.
"Love, Simon" is filled with so many moments of truth that I think it would be a great learning experience for parents of gay kids or friends of gay people. Or, if they can overcome their prejudices, people who are afraid of gay people. It knows exactly how it feels to be in the closet, and the lengths one must go to protect themselves. The double talk, the paranoia of someone finding out, the fear of rejection from friends and family (no matter how much you know they'll be supportive). Greg Berlanti, who is gay, must be drawing from personal experience. These scenes feel too real not to have been.
A cast of strong young performers helps immensely. Nick Robinson, so awful in "Jurassic World," is excellent in the tricky role of Simon. He has to be convincing as a normal guy whose sexuality causes him as much elation as pain. It's a performance that has few big dramatic moments but is absolutely on target. Name actors Jennifer Garner and Josh Duhamel on hand to lend some star power as the most understanding parents since Eugene Levy in the "American Pie" movies. Logan Miller, the scene-stealer in the totally underrated "Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse," continues to demonstrate great range as a villain who is driven by more than just malice. Performances by the other members of the cast are rock solid. The only character who doesn't work is Mr. Worth, the vice principal played by Tony Hale. He's so broad and over-the-top that he becomes a major irritant from the first time he appears on screen to the last.
What ultimately makes this film work is that these characters feel like real people, and nothing that happens to them is unbelievable. There's no amped-up melodrama or shocking plot twists; these people behave exactly according to their natures. Sure, the ending is a little cornball on paper, but as presented here, it works. I wouldn't mind spending more time with these characters, even if the story has already been told.
This is one of the year's best films.
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