STUDIO: Fox | DIRECTOR: Greg Berlanti | CAST: Nick Robinson, Jennifer Garner, Josh Duhamel, Katherine Langford, Alexandra Shipp, Logan Miller
RELEASE DATE: June 12, 2018 | PRICE: DVD $14.99, Blu-ray/DVD Combo $19.99, 4K Ultra HD $24.99
BONUSES: commentary, five featurettes, deleted scenes
SPECS: PG-13 | 110 min. | Romantic comedy drama | 2.39:1 widescreen | DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 | English, Spanish and French subtitlesRATINGS (out of 5 dishes): Movie
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John Hughes-styled coming-of-age issues, gay characters and a tech-oriented You’ve Got Mail–style romance may seem like an unusual combo, but they are exactly what makes Love, Simon a winning romantic comedy.
Adapted from a YA novel with a snappy sense of humor and fresh approach by its director, TV veteran Greg Berlanti (Dawson’s Creek, Riverdale), and This is Us writers Elizabeth Berger and Isaac Aptaker, Love, Simon centers on the exploits of Simon (Nick Robinson, Jurassic World), a high school student who has kept his homosexuality under wraps, even from his seemingly understanding parents (Draft Day‘s Jennifer Garner and When in Rome‘s Josh Duhamel).
Nick Robinson in Love, Simon.
Taking the name “Jacques,” Simon begins an anonymous virtual relationship with someone who calls himself “Blue,” who he meets on his school’s social media website. But complications occur when a nerdy fellow student (Logan Miller, The Stanford Prison Experiment) outs Simon.
Even boasting a plot that sounds like it could have come from an innocuous Disney Channel movie—minus the gay angle—Love, Simon triumphs because of the first-rate work from everyone involved. The ensemble cast is uniformly excellent, and includes two funny supporting turns by Tony Hale (TV’s VEEP) as the school’s hilariously friendly vice principal, and Natasha Rothwell (TV’s Insecure) as the self-deprecating drama teacher behind a misguided version of the school’s production of Cabaret, who turns out to be an ally of the school’s LGBTQ population.
Even though it’s simple on its surface, Love, Simon may be a barrier-breaker in terms of making LGBTQ issues palatable to a mass audience thanks to its wise and entertaining approach. Produced on a moderate budget, Love, Simon did well at the box-office ($50 million) and with critics (92% Fresh at Rotten Tomatoes). This will spur strong returns in ancillary markets with crossover appeal in the gay/straight and teen/adult markets likely.
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