Love, Simon
(2018)Everyone deserves a great love story.
Nick Robinson (Jurassic World) has yet to come out in this coming-of-age tale adapted from Becky Albertalli's acclaimed novel.... More
Everyone deserves a great love story. But for seventeen-year old Simon Spier it’s a little more complicated: he’s yet to tell his family or friends he’s gay and he doesn’t actually know the identity of the anonymous classmate he’s fallen for online. Resolving both issues proves hilarious, terrifying and life-changing.Hide
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Directed by Greg Berlanti ('Life as We Know It', 'The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy')
Starring Nick Robinson, Katherine Langford, Alexandra Shipp, Jorge Lendeborg, Miles Heizer, Keiynan Lonsdale, Logan Miller, Jennifer Garner, Josh Duhamel, Tony Hale
Written by Elizabeth Berger, Isaac Aptaker (based on the novel 'Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda' by Becky Albertalli)
Flicks Review
BY Amanda Robinson Flicks Writer
As the first mainstream, studio-backed teen rom-com with a gay protagonist, Love, Simon is a film that does exactly what it sets out to do.... More
Based on Becky Albertalli’s 2015 novel ‘Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda’, Love, Simon follows 17-year-old Simon Spier (Nick Robinson) as he corresponds with an anonymous teenager at his suburban high school. They write emails back and forth talking about school, favourite Halloween snacks, and the secret that binds them: they’re both gay.
While comparisons have been made to John Hughes classics, the film’s tone feels closer to a half-hour after-school show or a John Green adaptation, except more gay and less tragic. Directed by television writer-producer Greg Berlanti and from the producers of The Fault In Our Stars, Love, Simon is a family-friendly crowd-pleaser.
Nick Robinson plays Simon with a boyish charisma and shines in moments of anxiety. Jennifer Garner expertly sculpts the family’s mood as Simon’s mother, with Josh Duhamel surprisingly affecting as his father. And yet, it is Insecure’s Natasha Rothwell who gives the film’s most magnetic performance as Simon’s drama teacher.
At times the film’s sickly sweet sentimentality feels a little dated - a movie this conventional surely should have been released years ago. The whole point, of course, is that it wasn’t, so its adherence to the well-worn formula of a teen drama feels at once cheesy and vital.
While not necessarily queer cinema’s most revelatory offering, Love, Simon is more charming than anticipated, with some truly heartwarming moments. Refreshing in its exemption from fatality, Love, Simon marks a broadening of LGBT stories into the mainstream, an achievement worth celebrating if only for the gay teens on tumblr editing its sweetest moments into gifsets.Hide
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Love, Simon
BY JohnboyDunedin superstar
A movie that tackles 'coming out'. It was a good movie, with a mystery flowing through the film. Who is Blue? As always the characters are beautiful people. The themes are pretty real and raw at times. This one was a box of tissue job for me. I wish there was all round acceptance in reality but alas there isnt. I'd love to be a part of this gang.
The Press Reviews
It’s a hugely charming crowd pleaser, an infectiously entertaining coming of age film that feels primed to attract and retain a loyal eager-to-rewatch audience. Full Review
Love, Simon proves groundbreaking on so many levels... Full Review
Love, Simon is a John Hughes movie for audiences who just got woke. And for all its attempts not to offend, it's a genuine groundbreaker. Full Review
While it skimps on the deeper issues, it succeeds as both a romance and a comedy, being laugh-out-loud funny throughout... Full Review
The emotional resonance may be surprising given the movie's relentless gloss, but it's real. Full Review
There may be little in this movie that you haven't seen before, but the perspective through which you're seeing it can make all the difference. Full Review
It's too sanded down to ever truly snag on something like a real, specific, visceral emotion, but it's got the pop-chorus bombast that will get you to some kind of objective sense of fireworks, one way or another. Full Review
It's an expertly carved chunk of cheese. But taken on its own, limited terms, Love, Simon is also a charmer - warm, often funny and gently touching, tickling rather than pummeling your tear ducts. Full Review
Proof that there is still plenty of life, fun and intelligent storytelling to be had in the high school movie genre. Full Review
The kind of high school film and timeless romcom that's winning for the Insta-generation. Full Review
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