20th Century Fox 1 hour 49 minutes PG-13 Reviewed March 16, 2018
If you can’t relate to any of the characters in this film, you never went to high school. This is truly a diverse ensemble cast that works. Each character has their own personality and gets their due, but play really well together. Some liken this film to this generation’s The Breakfast Club. We see that. But we now live in a different time when pressures seem to be even greater.
Director Greg Berlanti (Writer/Producer, Super Girl, The Flash, Arrow) has created a captivating film that deals more than with Simon’s angst and apprehension about coming out to friends and family as gay. Although his heartfelt love story is at the center, it also covers relationships with friends, family, teachers, authority. But it also challenges the anonymity of social media which can embolden some to reveal too much, or be used to wreak emotional damage when it comes to privacy and secrets. It’s based on the book “Simon vs the Homosapiens Agenda.” Too long a name for the movie.
Nick Robinson (Jurassic World, The Kings of Summer) is Simon. Look-wise, we see kind of a cross between Ansel Elgort and James Franco, but he has his own look, and he’s a very good actor. Robinson is convincing in the role as a great kid, son, friend, student struggling with his own sexuality, trying to keep it under wraps.
His besties include Leah (Katherine Langford, 13 Reasons Why), Abby (Alexandra Shipp, Straight Outta Compton), and Nick (Jorge Lendeborg, Jr, Spiderman: Homecoming, Brigsby Bear). They’re so tight Berlanti has us follow them through their breakfast carpool/drive-thru coffee club ritual going to school together. That’s where we find out a lot about what’s on their radar.
Leah is the oldest friend who is like part of Nick’s family. Abby is new kid in school. She is the life-of-the-party, but has secrets of her own. Nick is happy-go-lucky showing some interest in Abby as more than a friend. But high school romance is fickle and pairings can change daily, even hourly.
Simon shows that, once he finds someone he thinks might be his true love. High school social media gossip leads him to a tip that a classmate is gay and he gets up the courage to write to “Blue” as “Jacques.” From then on, he looks at every boy as his potential soul mate. Could it be cute Cal (Miles Heizer), Kevin (Colton Haynes), Soccer star Bram (Keiynan Lonsdale)? No spoiler here.
Romance often starts on line in 2018. At school, Simon looks at every male as this potential love interest. You can feel his emotions, as well as hormones, running at a fever pitch. Robinson does a good job showing Simon’s self doubt is rampant. It gets more complicated when theater star, Martin, (Logan Miller, TV’s The Walking Dead, The Good Neighbor) threatens to out Simon with with copies he’s obtained of his emails. Everybody had an obnoxious, over-exuberant Martin in high school which Miller plays well, especially in the scenes as the silly school mascot making a grand stand play at the football game. Gotta give him credit. He’s embarrassingly funny.
Also give credit for casting Tony Hale as the wild and crazy hall watcher, Vice Principal, Mr.Worth, and for Natasha Rothwell as hilarious theater director Ms. Albright. They add a lot of laughs without getting too cheesy.
Simon’s parents are loving and fun. Mom, Emily (Jennifer Garner) and Dad, Jack (Josh Duhamel) haven’t got a clue, but get to show they are sensitive. We also liked Nora, Nick’s little sister trying to be the next Betty Crocker trying recipes on the family. Nick likes her, too, just more than her cooking.
With all the machinations, Simon and his friends still manage to have fun as Seniors in high school at Halloween costume parties and at friends with parents out-of-town parties. We follow Simon pouring his heart out on line while dazed and confused trying to figure out who his love interest might be. Berlanti does a great job creating realistic situations, and reactions, which some say play better than the book. Credit to Berlanti and to writers Elizabeth Berger and Isaac Aptaker (Both write for TV’s This is Us) for believable dialogue that expresses what it’s like to be a teen today.
This is the first big studio film to deal with a gay teen and it’s well-written, directed and produced. It’s a sincere coming-of-age tale with an accomplished cast that brings teens to life realistically and emotionally. And when Simon finds his true love, you may be tearing, cheering, or both, at the end.
