Love, Simon: Movie Review

It's no secret that I adore Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda. Love it. LOVE. IT. I talk about it all the time, I recommend it, I use it in half my Top Ten Tuesday lists... it's one of those books for me. So naturally I have been slightly hyped (aka counting the days) until the movie released. The Husband and I saw the movie last night and I'm still so jazzed about the experience that I decided I needed to talk about it. 

Disclaimer: This is not a thoughtful, critical review. This is me gushing about a movie I loved based on a book I adored. You've been warned. :)

Spoiler alert: I loved this movie!

I first read Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda in 2016. And it became an instant favorite. One of my exceedingly rare 5 star reads. (Seriously y'all, me giving a book 5 stars is akin to seeing a leprechaun riding a rainbow-colored unicorn on February 31st.) Since then I've read the book multiple times (and I am not a re-reader) and I've lost track of how many times I've listened to the audio version. And yet, I've never written a review for the book. Simply put, I love it too much to review it. (But that's a discussion for another day.) Naturally, I was equal parts ecstatic and nervous when I heard about the movie. My mantra became: please don't screw it up, please don't screw it up. Well guess what: they didn't screw it up!

To try and keep this somewhat focused and avoid a flailing word vomit of emotion, I'm going to break this down .

Casting. In a word: perfection. Going in, I really only knew two of the actors - Nick Robinson (Simon) and Jennifer Garner (Simon's mom), both of whom I liked so it was a good start. But it was obvious from the start that all of the casting was spot-on. Katherine Langford (less cynical and moody than Book Leah), Jorge Lendeborg (fun-loving Nick) and Alexandra Shipp (the bubbly and exuberant Abby) totally embodied Simon's crew of best friends. Other stand-outs were Natasha Rothwell as drama teacher Ms. Albright (loved her!), Keiynan Lonsdale as Bram (what a cutie!), Logan Miller as Martin (exactly how I pictured Marty), and Josh Duhamel as Simon's dad. 

Plot/Faithfulness to Book. This is how to adapt a book to the big screen (I'm looking at you, Divergent series.) The powers that be managed to translate 303 pages of narrative into 1 hour and 49 minutes of screen time and still retain the charm and magic of the book. Yes, there were changes but most of them were minor (example: movie Simon has only one sister instead of two). A couple changes were a little more substantial (one concerning Leah that I'm not sure really needed to be changed) but none that altered the overall story line. I loved the progression of Simon's character as he dealt with his growing feelings for online crush Blue, his forced outing, coming out to his family, and the ensuing fall-out at school. Nick Robinson's performance was the perfect blend of humor and heart. I was totally invested as he ogled cute boys, laughed with his friends, laid his soul bare to Blue, faced bigotry and bullying head on, and showed courage with his willingness to be honest about who he was.

Music. I guess I'm showing my age and my total lack of knowledge of current music but I wasn't familiar with any of the songs/artists used in the film. (Well, except for the two "older" tunes from Whitney Houston and the Jackson 5. LOL)  But even so, the music added so much to the experience. A group called Bleachers was used heavily and several of the songs felt custom-made for Simon's story, my favorites being Wild Heart and Rollercoaster. Also included was music from The 1975, Troye Sivan, Kahlid, Haerts, and Amy Shark.

Favorite Moments. 
- The talk between Simon and his mom
- Both scenes with Ms. Albright
- The Simon/Martin confrontation in the parking lot
- Simon meeting Blue on the ferris wheel
- The Whitney Houston dance number (priceless!!)

Final Thoughts. Obviously, I loved this movie. I loved the casting and thought the actors brought the characters to life. There were laugh out loud moments and there were a couple times when I got teary. Most of all, I'm so just so happy that one of my favorite books was turned into a movie that kept the spirit of the book, all the sweetness and humor and emotion. And I already want to go see it again. 

DO YOU PLAN ON SEEING LOVE, SIMON?