Call Me By Your Name (2017)

Call Me By Your Name is about a young Italian boy who falls in love with his father's research assistant who is also Jewish.

Directorially the film has a few flaws, camera angles, positioning, lighting. This makes me worried about Luca Guadagnino doing the remake of Suspiria. There are dialogue direction problems that are textbook beginner problems, not that anyone will come out and criticizes this film, for fear of being called ignorant. He takes advantage of Italy's beautiful landscape to attempt gorgeous shots but anyone with an iPhone could recreate those shots with a passport.

Timothee Chalamet plays the young Elio. I recognized him from Interstellar for which his role was minor. This is really my first time seeing him as the main character. At first, I disliked his character and then I started to just dislike the writing of his character rather than his acting. Some of the actions his character does are just unrealistic for a character like his.

Armie Hammer plays a flawless character. There is little room for a character arch if the character is already perfect. Sure he's hesitant but I don't consider being cautious a flaw. Armie Hammer does a wonderful job playing the character he was written to have. It's not his fault the dialogue is all over the place. Most of his lines are above average though it's all the filler that's the problem.

You watch, wanting to know where the story is going but have to sit through scenes of just sitting, standing, or piano playing. Shots of the back of people's heads don't allow the actor to display any emotion. If patience is the theme of the movie it did it well because it's testing. The film isn't for everyone and without any real conflict the film doesn't have a story.

Result: C- (It has flaws and an ultimate display of pretentious filmmaking.)

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