Illustration by Elena Griedel
Love, Simon is a super corny movie, but there is something fun about corny movies. Sure, they might be painfully predictable and a tad bit boring, but you can always rely on them to be at least a little enjoyable.
Admittedly, if there was a scale for cliché humor, Love, Simon would probably be on the lower end of the spectrum. It hits that sweet spot of predictability where the ending still manages to leave you a little emotional and bubbly in the way only a story of true love can.
Directed by Greg Berlanti, Love, Simon follows the story of Simon Spier (Nick Robinson) through his senior year as he struggles to come out as gay to his family and friends. Unfortunately, Hollywood has not reached the point where a romance movie about a gay couple doesn’t have to be centered around the fact they’re gay. However Love, Simon seems to want to emphasize the normalcy of a gay relationship. Made clear by the fact that Simon loves to remind the audience he is “just like you,” a point that gets a bit tiresome.
The styling of this movie is a huge part of its appeal. It has a laid back approach with intermittent breaks from the action for funny snippets that let the audience catch their breath. There also are several points where Simon addresses the audience directly, which helps to create a deeper audience-character relationship.
While the corny humor was a fun addition to the movie, it does prove to be problematic in several of the more serious moments. While the audience is undoubtedly supposed to be moved by the beauty of the moment, you can’t help but chuckle at the corny one-liners. But the young and impressive cast, certainly helps to balance these moments out. Martin (Logan Miller) is the villain of the story, a character who you both want to hate because of his ignorance and stupidity, and hug because of his need for attention and validation. His shameless personality is hilarious and so so cringe worthy, accounting for a large part of the humour in the movie.
The only weak link in the main cast is Leah (Katherine Langford), Simon’s best friend. While her overall role is pretty bad, the scene that pushes it over the edge is her emotional monologue, which is one of those moments that was definitely meant to be taken seriously but ends up being painfully funny.
This movie will leave you feeling some type of way as all good romantic movies should. Even if it is corny, it’s the type that embraces it and falls back on the reliability of the happy ending with great success.