Chalamet charms but Hammer not

Rating: 7/10 (20 March 2018)

Somewhere in Northern Italy, the Perlman family is excited about the arrival of Oliver (Armie Hammer). He's a grad student assisting professor Perlman over the summer in the 80's. The girls are all taken with handsome Oliver including the young son Elio Perlman (Timothée Chalamet). Elio is enticed by Oliver as his friend Marzia also gets closer to him.
It's a film about a young gay boy's emotional first love. There are things that do pull me out of the movie. The first problem I had was that I assumed Marzia to be Elio's sister. It's connected to another problem. Marzia should be a bigger character. She's the pawn in their love chess game. She should start much more as a girlfriend leading to a more heated conflict. There may be a deliberate move by the movie to take the dramatic conflict out of this gay love story. It becomes more of an emotional drama for better and for worst. The other problem is that Oliver does not appeal to me. He's the preppy guy from an 80's teen dramedy. It's not the most endearing. Sometimes, that character can gain depth by going darker but that would be creepy in this case. It also threatens to be that older guy seducing a young boy. Don't get me wrong. There are some very touching emotional takes. The father's talk after Oliver's departure is very sincere and the last scene with Elio's tearful closeup is very emotional. I am taken with Timothée Chalamet and his youthful charms. I'm less taken with Armie Hammer. He continues to perplex me as an actor.