First Take: Love, Simon- this film really is for everyone

SYNOPSIS: Simon Spier keeps a huge secret from his family,
his friends, and all of his classmates; he’s gay. When that secret is
threatened, Simon must face everyone and come to terms with his identity.

My co-host on the uni radio show I do labelled this as a
masterpiece on air this afternoon, and, well, I have to agree with the immortal
Mr Carver- Love, Simon is one of those films that’s able to take a taboo
subject and turn it into a mainstream Hollywood film that can appease the
widest possible audience in ways that can and will get them thinking long after they leave the cinema.

The film is directed very well by Greg Berlanti, as he
manages to downplay the raw emotion initially as a clever device to build to a
beautiful finale, and working to a script from Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth
Berger (adapted from a 2015 book by Becky Albertalli), the film comes in at a
very nice 1 hour 50 minutes, enough time to develop all the characters and
deliver enough story to make that time fly by. It’s shot excellently by John Guleserian,
however, while Rob Simonsen’s score is good and fits the film perfectly, I did
hear him reuse some tracks from his soundtrack to 2016’s Nerve during the
film’s conclusion, so I do have to call that minor problem out.

The performances are where this film really shines, as the
young cast are able to knock it right out of the park. Nick Robinson is
electric as Simon, and combined with the talents of Katherine Langford,
Alexandra Shipp (who will next be seen in X-Men: Dark Phoenix), Jorge Lendeborg
Jr, Miles Heizer and a heavyweight supporting cast which includes Josh Duhamel
and Jennifer Garner, the talent behind this film should feel very proud indeed.

THE VERDICT

As the promotional material quite rightly states, everyone
deserves a good love story, and it’s refreshing to see Hollywood make something
unique, new and daring in a genre we’ve seen so many times before. Bring the
tissues, this one is emotional, and it couldn’t have come out at a better time-
literally. Believe the hype folks, this could be a Film of the Year contender.

RATING: 5/5