A bad attempt on what could have been an unforgettable summer love story. "Call Me by Your Name" fails in every aspect of It. It's dull, empty and forced.
From beginning to end there's no exploration of any kind. The characters don't have the depth they should have which makes the love story lacking dynamism and vivacity.
The first part of the movie is tedious and uninteresting. An hour of unnecessary scenes, that could easily be cut out, with brief dialogs of direct questions/answers, without emotions or sensibility from any character. A missed opportunity to invest in the character denseness and build their relationship. The movie doesn't give enough space for the sensations and attraction between them to evolve and, with that, we end up not caring, at all, with their bonding. All we see is a shallow relationship based, purely, in sexual encounters.
Less is more so it would have been great to see that. Less scenes, less scenarios and less dull actions and conversations. It's a movie that should concentrate merely in the connection between them and not on how beautiful the background is or how kind and aware Elio's parents are. The minor characters are completely pointless and don't bring absolutely nothing to the film.
The only positive aspect is Timothée Chalamat, In the second part of the film. He really pushes Elio's character and ends up with a very solid and strong performance. The ending shot was absolutely breathtaking. Apart from Timothée's acting, Sufjan Stevens enhanced this scene with "Mistery of Love", making one of the best ending scenes of the year. Undeniably, he deserves to win Best Original Song at the 90th Academy Awards.
If Halle Berry is in he cast, I really don't care who is there with her. Just seeing her for 94 minutes is enough.
Now, this film made it's budget back on opening weekend. The next weekend almost doubled that, and ever weekend after that it was more that double, sometimes triple. This is a good omen. When a film gets more money every week, the word of mouth is driving business, and we can expect a good thriller.
Seeing the action in a 911 call center was exciting and informative. It is no surprise that a mistake can be made in the heat of the moment. The hard part is that a simple mistake can have disastrous consequences.
Berry was outstanding as the 911 operator, and Abigail Breslin was magnificent at the abductee. She has come a long way from Little Miss Sunshine.
The film had you on the edge of your seat when it got going. It was innovative and the tension never let up. A bathroom break was impossible as you wouldn't dare miss a minute.
I am sure that there will be debate over the ending. As a fan of revenge films, I applauded it, but others may have reservations.
