Good chemistry and great acting.

Rating: 8/10 (1 January 2018)

After falling in love with the novel, I was looking forward to the movie. The fact that it was getting great reviews made me hopeful that it was going to retain the soul of Elio and Oliver's love story. And it did. However, it's not because it's a good movie. It's because of its stars, Armie Hammer and Timothée Chalamet. Theirs was a casting decision made in heaven.
The movie is alright. You can't go wrong setting your story in northern Italy, the art direction is gorgeous, the rest of the cast is very good, and the soundtrack is spectacular. I wasn't very impressed by the direction and the script fell short in building Elio and Oliver's relationship. There were a few inconsistencies in the editing that threw me off, and the fly on Elio's shirt when he is breaking down in front of the fire, ruined the final scene for me.
The film itself doesn't give us enough elements to believe Elio and Oliver have fallen in love. Based only in the director and writer's work, it's just a summer fling, kind of intense, but in the same way Sandy and Danny had a thing in Grease.
Enter Armie Hammer and Timothée Chalamet. It is their interpretation what makes this movie one of the most beautiful and honest romantic film of this decade. Every word, every breath, every move, every glance, every heart palpitation take us through the journey of what it is to fall in love and be broken hearted when it all ends. I wish the movie had expanded more on their trip to Bergamo (Rome in the novel.) In the three days away, Elio gets a glance of what his life could be with Oliver as his partner.