Love, Simon | Madame
Directed by Greg Berlanti
If high school is already an agonizing gauntlet where conformity clashes daily with individuality, consider the plight of the closeted gay teen. In the funny and affecting Love, Simon, the titular character wrestles with coming out and learns that, even with the most supportive family and friends imaginable, there’s still no easy way to take those awkward first steps. As Simon (Nick Robinson) explains in his opening narration, he’s an ordinary high school senior save for his one big secret. When the school’s dedicated rumour blog receives a post from an anonymous student known only as “Blue,” who is coming to terms with his own homosexuality, Simon reaches out via email as “Jacques.” They start a correspondence that gradually becomes something deeper. As he attempts to unravel the mystery of the identity of his new pen pal, a fellow student (Logan Miller) discovers Simon’s secret and threatens to out him unless Simon helps him win a friend’s affections.
The performances from the charismatic young cast are uniformly excellent. Robinson is especially impressive in his ability to convey the inner turmoil constantly roiling beneath the surface. There’s also room for some amusing supporting characters, including Tony Hale as the school’s overzealous vice principal, and Natasha Rothwell dominates every scene as the beleaguered drama teacher helming a doomed production of Cabaret.
Adapted from a young adult novel by Becky Albertalli with the slightly less marketable title of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, the script rests on a delicate balance of comedy and drama. Given that the film was written by This Is Us scribes Elizabeth Berger and Isaac Aptaker, and directed by Greg Berlanti (who cut his teeth on Dawson’s Creek), there’s an expected amount of sentimentality, but it all teeters over into mawkishness in the third act. Acceptance and tolerance aren’t always quite as prevalent for gay teens as they are for Simon, but maybe with more mainstream films like this being embraced in popular culture, they could be. (Fox)