'Call Me By Your Name' A Review

Call Me By Your Name is a coming of age drama set in 1983 about 17-year-old Elio(Timothée Chalamet) and his burgeoning friendship/relationship with, supposed, 24-year-old grad student Oliver(Armie Hammer) who is staying with him and his parents at their Italian estate where they summer.

Chalamet is decent, Hammer is charming but the two have no chemistry. Their dynamic doesn't go beyond a kind of combative immature flirtation. Their desire is somewhat believable but romance, love? No. Elio's parents give more fully formed performances, Michael Stuhlbarg and Amira Casar, and the characters are accepting of their son(kind of a fresh take) which is played with grace but ultimately there's not much there. The bulk of what is going on is rich people lazing about in the sun shirtless. Esther Garrel as Marzia is a bright spot but is constrained by the surprisingly contrived beats her character is forced to follow.

Visually lush and beautifully evocative of Italy the cinematography is easily the best element of the film. Almost every other element of the film is different grades of problematic. Virtually no time is spent on developing the character of Elio so his personality and what he's actually feeling and going through is unclear. As a result what we see is an intelligent, entitled, piano playing, socially awkward, rich kid who's kind of an asshole. As the film unfolds its also unclear what conflict he's actually encountering. The Oliver character is equally vague. There are a couple scenes between the two where both the text is unclear(script problem) as well as the subtext(acting problem). It's unclear if the characters are grappling with their sexuality, their age difference, or simply the awkwardness and hedonistic eagerness of youth. Not in a way where all the subtext are implied and the dynamic feels rich with meaning but in a way where it seems vital and creative decisions haven't been made and it's the result is an emotional nebulousness.

There is a monologue by Stuhlbarg at the end which is being lauded however it also suffers from this same murkiness and lack of choice which casts not only this potentially moving monologue in doubt but the whole film. There is a lot of kissing and rubbing of hands and lips and faces between the two leads but when they actually get to the sex the camera pans to the open window like some 60's sitcom. There is no panning away however during the straight sex scene that proceeds it which seems at best odd and unsettling. There's also the treatment of the character Marzia who Elio has sex with one day, abandons the next, then three days later apropos of nothing she forgives him. This not to mention the two scenes that feature dribbling semen which all taken together make for a messy hodgepodge of a a period drama complete with unflattering 80's attire not something best-of-the-year worthy.

The affluence almost decadent wealth on display in the film is off putting, the relationship at the center problomatic because of an age difference which is never actually addressed, the script is vague to the point of lacking motivation and even emotional coherence.

Call Me By Your Name is worthy of a watch no question, this more critical than usual review not-with-standing, but is this mediocre and melodramatic rich kid romance one of the best movies of the year? Absolutely not. It is wonderful that more movies are coming out with diverse perspectives and characters. But some of them will be uneven. Maybe entertaining but not exceptional.

Rent It.