“Love, Simon” Movie Review

    I few months ago, I was hearing a lot of goods things about a movie I had never heard of before.  The movie I heard a lot of praise for was called “Love, Simon” and I figured I would look into it when it came out on home video.  After some time passed, I forgot about the movie and happened to run across it again at our local video store, Family Video.  I had no idea what it was about and decided to blind buy the movie.

    Well, as it turns out, the film is about a young man named Simon who is trying to survive High School without his sexuality being revealed before graduating.  Simon realized he was gay from a young age but wasn’t sure what the right way to do it or when the right time to reveal it would be.  Simon seems to have everything in his life under control until an anonymous post by a fellow student leads them to writing each other and discussing their frustrations about how or when to come out.  Unfortunately, another student discovers that Simon has written this student and threatens to out Simon on the school’s website if he doesn’t help him get a date with one of his good friends.  Simon must choice between his friends and his secret as he navigates High School with increasing pressure.

    “Love, Simon” is based on the popular young adult novel “Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda” by Becky Albertalli.  I am guessing the title was shorten to make it easier for marketing reasons and perhaps they felt the book’s title was a little on the nose.  The adaptation is important because it was the first major Hollywood film to feature a gay teenage romance.  Seeing as High School is a tough period of time for almost everyone, it’s refreshing to have a movie someone in the LGBTQ community can relate to.  The best part of the movie is it is funny and charming and really lets you connect with Simon which helps remind audiences that people are people regardless of their sexual orientation.

    The film was directed by Greg Berlanti and he proved a wise choice.  Berlanti is an openly gay producer and director and I imagine that helped him navigate the sensitive subject matter while also bringing a great deal of warmth and humanity to the project.  The only slight problem I had with the film was the tone was a little inconsistent (which is common with teen romantic comedy-dramas so I won’t be too down on it for that).

    The cast was filled with a lot of talented newcomers led by Nick Robinson as Simon.  Robinson really puts into focus the struggle his character is going through.  Robinson was charismatic and he really made you root for Simon.  Katherine Langford from “13 Reasons Why” also shines as one of Simon’s best friends.  There are also a lot of cast members from Berlanti’s Arrowverse in the film.

    The film succeeds largely because of how simple it takes the subject matter.  “Love, Simon” isn’t about what it’s like to be gay, it’s about what it is like to be in love.  The sad part of the film is that it reminds us that we live in a society where the bravest thing a person can do is be themselves.

Grade: B+