"Call Me By Your Name"

I’m kind of stuck in the middle with this one. Lady Bird star Timothée Chalamet stars as 17-year-old Elio living in Italy, in 1983. His father, a professor at a nearby college, hires Otto, a middle-aged author, to research lost artifacts in the nearby shore. From there, one of the most frustrating love stories ever begins to unfold.

The film plays it well in the beginning in how subtle Elio is in his interest in Otto. To be honest, the movie is more about sexual exploration. Elio also struggles in a relationship with a local girl trying to figure out who he is. When he admits to Otto his feelings, this is where the movie takes a weird left turn, I think. Otto acts all flattered but wanted to keep it on the down low. But then he starts to show interest in Elio, so you spend the rest of the movie wondering whether or not Otto is serious. They don’t call each other by their names until the final hour of the movie. In the end, Otto had to go home, so they spend one final week together, dancing, drinking, and having fun at the local bars. After Otto had gone home, Elio's father’s admits to him that he almost had a similar experience when he was Elio’s age, but he didn’t have the balls to act on it like Elio. This was shocking to Elio as well as us, the audience, as he spent the entire movie avoiding his affections to Otto in front of his father. We already knew his mother knows, and in fact, she encourages the relationship. Six months later, Elio gets a call from Otto who tells him he’s getting married. And the movie ends with Elio sulking by the fireplace while his parents prepare for dinner.

It was a beautiful story while it lasted. A story about sexuality, identity, relationships, and acceptance. The girl Elio dated wasn’t mad at him. His parents, subtle until the end, were very supportive. Gross as it sounds, the peach scene was the most boyish thing a boy can do. I’m not saying other boys have taken a peach out of the fridge (I definitely didn’t do this) and practiced on it, but the movie moves forward with exploring male sexuality.

But it was Otto that kind of did me in, no pun intended. He was a playboy, and he used Elio to have that one unforgettable summer that emotionally ruined a boy struggling to come into his own. When you listen in on the horrendous phone call, you feel sympathetic for Elio and just want to cry too. The romance felt extremely real and convincing. I was sort of rooting for them, especially when they separated and Otto calls Elio. But then Otto pulls this sh*t. I just want to punch him for leading Elio on like that. The hell, man?

I’m proud of the movie not calling attention to the message out loud like other movies are doing. It’s casual. There was a time when characters were casually gay, or casually black, and the movie just showed them as human as the other characters. I want to go back to that. I want to see Serendipity starring two guys finding each other in New York City at Christmas, or The Notebook starring two women growing old together. Not all this coming out business. Can we have stories where the romance just happens?

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Released On: November 24, 2017
Rating: R
Stars: Timothée Chalamet, Armie Hammer, Michael Stuhlberg, Amira Casar, Esther Garrel, Victoire Du Bois
Director: Luca Guadagnino
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 95% Certified Fresh
IMDb Score: 8.0/10

Awards
Academy Awards

• Best Picture - Nominated
• Best Actor Timothée Chalamet - Nominated
• Best Adapted Screenplay James Ivory - Winner
• Best Original Song Sufjan Stevens - Nominated

Golden Globes

• Best Motion Picture Drama - Nominated
• Best Actor Motion Picture Drama Timothée Chalamet - Nominated
• Best Supporting Actor Motion Picture Armie Hammer - Nominated