Teenage movies or coming-of-age movies have had a strong upbringing for a realistic portrait of the young human condition as teenagers transition to young adults. Heck, I consider Moonlight to be a coming-of-age movie and that won Best Picture. So, that win says to me that any coming-of-age story can be developed from different angles in different ways that is worth showing on the screen or read from a book. So, I have seen a movie where a character is struggling with identifying oneself because of their sexual orientation but this is in a different setting which I named earlier above. But, what was so fascinating about that movie was in its setting and conditions and how it impacted his adult life. However, it is identified in the forefront that the character we are following is a closeted person but is having trouble coming out in public in front of his friends and in public. At this time, I feel like that the movie successfully delivers a portrait of a type of potentially developed romance that feels true, earnest and tender.
Simon Spier (Nick Robinson) tells us about himself that he has a former quarterback-turned father, Jack (Josh Duhamel) and valedictorian mother, Emily (Jennifer Garner) and a younger sister, Nora (Talitha Bateman) who wants to be a chef. Simon spends time with three of his best friends - Leah (Katherine Langford), Nick (Jorge Lindeborg Jr.) and Abby (Alexandra Shipp). He is fairly normal person except that he has a massive secret: he is gay. At home, he gets a FaceTime call from Leah, who tells him about the school's blog that an anonymous student going by "Blue" comes out as gay. Simon starts to e-mail him under the alias of "Jacques" and they form a strong connection.
Simon makes a mistake by leaving his e-mail open on the library computer in which his annoying classmate, Martin (Logan Miller), discovers and blackmails him to set him with Abby. Simon is not ready to come out so he goes with it. Simon's friend, Bram (Keiynan Lonsdale), invites everyone to his Halloween party. Simon tells a lie to Nick that Abby is seeing an older, college guy since Nick is interested in her. After the party, Leah walks Simon back home and when in their room, Leah discusses about loving one person for the rest of her life, giving Simon a hint. He does not get it so he goes to bed as Leah sleeps on the floor.
This is an honest portrayal of teen life that is nuanced and also funny but surprisingly has stakes for someone's personality to ring true to the public. Did it need to be necessary? I think so. Because in that teenage world, mischief, in one way or another, can ruin a person's life for a while or forever. Heck, bullying is worse, in the real world or in the online community. It becomes toxic. There is a little bit of that but again as I pointed honesty out, there is a lot in its second half after the revelation of him coming out (it is not really a spoiler). The communication between his friends and Simon feel like a bystander or a witness to their conversation and I like to listen to what is going on.
All of the cast is fantastic but Nick Robinson (who is recognizable from Jurassic World and the terrible Everything, Everything) is going to be a star after this movie and should get more roles because at times, I did not feel like he was acting, I felt like his character was in deep sadness in his isolation because of his orientation. He is a real good up-and-coming actor. Katherine Langford (from 13 Reasons Why) is good as he develops a friendly bond between her character and Simon. And, Lindeborg Jr and Shipp add another layer of energy to their friendship as the four friends represent a society in which people of race, color, sexuality, gender can all get along.
I believe that is the message of the movie that regardless of your identity, it is the personality/behavior that represents one. If obnoxious, one needs help. If anybody is toxic in person or online, one needs help or needs to use their time more wisely. Now, as you can see I don't praise it as much, I think the movie makes a calculated error in the screenplay as to who is actually "Blue". In my mind, I thought it was real predictable who it was and even though it was not a bad ending, it was a bit disappointing that I knew ahead of time. Plus, Logan Miller's character goes a long way. But, it's Nick Robinson's performance and the dialogue that shines to make a big-studio movie into an altruistic portrait of teenage life today and that regardless of any type of young relationship, they will feel sympathetic to Simon and also to themselves. I would not consider this movie top-tier coming-of-age like a couple of John Hughes movie and some recent ones, but it is darn close.
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