The film takes place in the early 1980s. Except for
some clothes and music, it could be just about any year though. Seventeen year
old Elio (Timothée Chalamet) lives in his family's Northern Italy estate. He
has to give up his room for a few weeks when his father, a professor (Michael
Stuhlbarg), brings in a research assistant for the summer. The assistant this
year is a handsome American named Oliver (Armie Hammer). Elio is attracted to
Oliver, although it doesn't appear that he's accepted that about himself yet.
Oliver is oozing with confidence and hard to read at first. Eventually, they do
admit their feelings to one another and have a brief relationship.
I'm pretty sure I'd adore this movie if I was more
in love with the Italian countryside. Guadagnino and cinematographer Sayombhu
Mukdeeprom adore the Northern Italy location and shoot it like a heavenly Eden,
shielded from the ugliness of the world. If there was a filter called
"rose colored glasses", they'd use it for this film. The film has a
very relaxed pace, so it can soak the nature and architecture up. Accordingly,
the stakes in the film aren't higher than they need to be. Not every story
about coming out has to end with the person getting beat up or shunned by
everyone he or she knows. Sometimes it can be more of an internal struggle,
which is the case with Elio. There wasn't a lot that he was dealing with that I
couldn't relate to. I may not know about the fear of coming out, but I do know
the fear of opening yourself up to someone you like when you aren't sure if
they like you back. I can easily recognize his search for identity. Call Me
By Your Name is actually a pretty conservative movie that's hard to
dislike. I reminded me of Lady Bird a lot in that way.
It is a pretty idealized movie, and that can be a
bit of a problem too. It's almost too easy. I don't think there are any hurt
feelings in this movie. Elio's parents always know the perfect thing to say.
Every other scene looks like it should be on a postcard. The girl Elio strings
along still wants to stay friends. He doesn't just get to say goodbye to
Oliver. He gets a dream vacation as a sendoff. He definitely comes from money.
Like, old money. This ease didn't ruin the movie for me or anything, but it's
probably why I didn't fall harder for it.
A trio of performances carry the movie. Timothée
Chalamet is deserving of all the awards attention he's receiving. His
non-verbal acting in particular is terrific throughout, although I feel like
I'm the only person alive who didn't care for his four minute single-take scene
during the credits. My short take on that is that it felt like they were trying
too hard to have some "capital A"-Acting. It's good work. I just
preferred his less obvious stuff.
Michael Stuhlbarg gets a tour de force scene reminiscent to Michelle
Williams in Manchester by the Sea
last year. He doesn't do much in the film outside of that scene, but it's a
helluva scene. I'm more mixed about Armie Hammer. Beyond the fact that he's a
very old 24, he just seems too sturdy. He can't turn his confidence down enough
for what some of the scenes require.
I've been going back and fourth on how I feel about
this movie. Working for it is the relaxed pace and light plotting. Working
against it is that it sidesteps every controversial thing it can. It feels more
like a snack than a meal. Maybe a dessert. I think the Sufjan Stevens music
ultimately tips the scale in its favor though.
Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend
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