A beautiful dream

Rating: 10/10 (3 March 2019)

I kind of went back and forth when I tried rating this and I decided on 10/10 for a few reasons.
1. Timothée Chalamet is, and I cannot stress this enough, a treasure. His portrayal of Elio was so raw and beautiful. He took me on a journey of young love and a KIND of love that only the young are capable of. The last shot of him was so simple but so powerful. I felt everything and his performance delievered everything I could ever want from a movie. He's a star and I can't wait to see what he does in the future.
2. I cried actual tears. Not just one or two, but for ten or fifteen minutes straight, I'm not sure. It was a lot and I'm not a big crier. I barely have feelings, ok. This made me feel all the feelings.
3. Michael Stuhlbarg's monologue. During which I sobbed so much I had to pause afterwards and I rewound the movie 2-3 times and cried some more.
4. The dreamy, wistful way this was shot. It felt like a summer's dream.

I am not sure I'm sold on Armie Hammer and I'm not sure he was *the best* choice for this movie. I thought maybe he was a bit too old. A bit too straight. He was good, though. His acting is always good. He embodied Oliver and brought him to life. His subtle confidence helped things stay grounded. However, Elio was the star and the journey we took was his, ours, because of what he brought to every scene with Oliver. His uncertainty and insecurity and his purity of feeling was evident in every look and touch and word.
To some this might be another love story. And a good one at that. I've seen some say that the praise had much to do with the novelty of it being a gay love story. I disagree. To me, it wasn't just a gay love story but a love story, period. It was two people sharing something beautiful and rare. Finding a soulmate, even if for a short time. It was two beautiful boys with beautiful souls finding beauty in each other and sharing something that will be carried for a lifetime.
This movie was written, shot, and acted with care. It's evident that the characters and story were important and treated as such. That is something I wholeheartedly appreciate.
I would like to take one last moment to heap every praise known to mankind on Timothée as Olio. He really was that good and could have easily won the Oscar over Gary Oldman imo. And I think Gary Oldman is brilliant, like, who doesn't? I still think that this is a once in a lifetime performance and if he had won, he would've deserved it. Watching his performance was a privilege and I'm so glad he shared it with us. I know I probably seem like I'm heaping superfluous praise on the kid but he really was that good and you won't regret watching this film. You may not love it as much as I do but I don't think you'll be disappointed. It's a simple love story but one that, I think, will strike a chord with so many of us.
I'm going to be thinking about this one for a while, I think.