i watched this movie specifically because it's controversial. people either love it or they hate it. i love having opinions on things, but i can't really do that if i haven't seen the movie, now can i? curious to see who was right and who was wrong, i pulled up this movie on a very legal and legitimate streaming service, and gave it a whirl. as with all things, the answer lies somewhere in the middle. but like, leaning way more towards "this movie is bad." though, i think my reasons for disliking this film go beyond 'it's problematic.' (i'll get into this later - i don't think you can really talk about this movie without addressing that elephant in the room.)

this movie reminds me of saltburn. this is a bad thing, because saltburn is legitimately one of my least favorite movies. though, for what it's worth, i think call me by your name is a better movie than saltburn, in spite of my deeply unfavorable comparison. like saltburn, call me by your name is a visually gorgeous film. it is very pretty to look at, and i do have to hand it to the film for that. also like saltburn, the good things about this film are mostly skin deep. this is a two hour film and very little of it felt important to me. i'm not against movies where 'nothing happens' because that "nothing" can often legitimately be something. not here, though. even though none of the acting in this movie is bad, i also just don't buy anything that happens between the main characters, elio and oliver.

speaking of elio and oliver - the elephant in the room. elio is seventeen and oliver is twenty four. i don't think the presence of uncomfortable or taboo subjects means that a piece of art should be immediately disregarded or cast aside. i think we should meet it where it's at and see where it goes with that taboo subject. what does it have to say about it? why was it included? this is a whole sticky and nuanced discussion that deserves more room than a tiny film blog post, but it was worth mentioning. i don't think call your name is setting out like "yeees, yeeeees, let's tell the whole world that adults dating teens is awesome," obviously not, but it IS a lame-ass movie that doesn't really do anything to explore this taboo subject in any meaningful way.

i found elio and oliver's relationship less romantic and more off-putting. certainly a part of that is due to the ages of the characters - it's something i'd consider inappropriate in real life, so this colored my view of the film - but i still think i'd feel this way even if elio was, like, twenty two. this relationship doesn't feel like it has any balance. it didn't feel like i was watching two lovers, it felt like i was watching grown-ass oliver toying with immature elio. all well and good narratively, but i'm not sure that's what they intended. the framing of this movie is a romance, so it feels kind of jarring to see some of the things that go on here. i just really could not get into it. i felt like this movie would have worked much better in another genre. i also think the movie would have worked better if the characters were livelier than cardboard.

uhh, obligatory peach scene commentary. does anyone remember how people went nuts over some of the """shocking""" scenes in saltburn? call me by your name did it first. it's a mildly racy scene that, for some reason, gets treated like the most shocking thing to be put on a tv screen. i felt nothing. i have seen freakier. guy sticks his dick in a random object because he's horny, fork found in kitchen. at least there was some kind of significance to the scene. forbidden fruit symbolism and all - it's not just there for shock value like some other movie. (ooh, i should write a scathing review of saltburn sometime.)

but was there anything i LIKED about this movie? i gave it one star, which is one more than zero stars. yes - there are things i enjoyed about the movie, and they are very far and few between. i've mentioned that the visuals are lovely - and obviously sufjan stevens' contributions to the score were just fantastic. his music carried the movie. it deserves to be in a cooler one. but as far as the actual film goes, i did like the ending. the ending of this movie was great. i wasn't at all invested in these deeply uninteresting characters, but this ending still managed to have an impact. i liked it. i wish the rest of the movie was impactful.

all this hubbub and debate for a movie that is ultimately incredibly boring? for shame.