nd

English for Academic and Professional Purposes (2 Quarter)

Performance Task
CRITICAL EVALUATION PAPER

Name: John Clarence B. Maitim

Date: November 26,2020
Section: Shakespeare

Title: A Critical Evaluation of 20th Century Fox “Love, Simon”

'Who you are to the world is pretty terrifying because what if the world doesn’t like you?' This is
one of the most important questions in the movie "Love, Simon," a American romantic comedy
drama film directed by Greg Berlanti. It was released on March 22, 2018, and grossed a total of
$66.3 million, against a production budget of $10–17 million worldwide.

The movie, starring Nick Robinson as Simon Spier, a high school student with a healthy home
life, a family that cares about him and a good friends, but he also has a secret and he is
understandably afraid that if he shares this secret with his family, his life will never be the
same, and the secret is that he's gay. He's never 'come out he never told anybody about it, but
he known for a while and so he's developing an online relationship with another high school
student who's also a homosexual but hasn't come out yet, he's having the courage to finally do
things he's often been afraid to do. Unfortunately, he doesn't know the identity of the student
he's fallen for, apart from his nickname in the emails and conversations, 'Blue,' and the journey
Simon follows to solve all these difficulties to find out who he is. This proves to be funny, life-
changing and incredibly touching. The film showcases a believable and lovely story, very
credible acting performances and an impressive production design.

Story/Screenplay
The story is about the development of the film, and viewers are now looking for a plausible
story. While certain moments appeared to be staged, but still the whole story remained
credible and persuasive, as the true difficulties of a boy who was afraid to come to his family
and friends demonstrated. For instance in the film, Simon does everything well when some boy
takes "blue" emails and threatens to expose them to the whole school if Simon refuses to help
him with his crush. Simon tries to mess and manipulate his friends to cover his lie, that is to say,
until the game comes home. Simon is waiting silently as his emails are circulated throughout
the school gossip website and he has no longer any control on the situation. Anyone who is
under the pressure of coming out might speak about fearing to come out until the individual
faces the struggles of letting people know who you really are. When his best friends realise the
meddling and leave him in his time for need, Simon sees his life steadily falling apart. The
audience had these issues, making the movie more honest to reality.

Some film critics say that the film didn't offer anything new, except that its efforts are
noteworthy to break away from the conventional romantic film formula. The traditional
conclusion, as most people expect from romantic comedy, is happy, when the boy and the girl
end up together. In this film, however, boys fell in love and this is something new for people,
since this kind of film is rarely seen in movies.

Given these positives, there are also places of improvement in the narrative of the film. The film
uses two characters to a great comedy effect, so Love, Simon, manages to take the trope away
for great entertainment. However, the straight romantic drama between Nick, Leah, Abby, and
Martin which are simon friends often transforms into a boring cliche, as a result of a film that
does not establish their relationship with each other as well as their relationship with Simon.
Furthermore, Love, Simon prefers to maintain the attention on Simon's coming out because his
connection with Blue is one of its greatest strengths, so if the other relationships between
teenagers are a little underdeveloped, it's a forgivable side effect of a film who knows which
character and whose story is the most essential.
Acting
Acting is an art, a talent, it's not just being anyone, it's seeing a link in what's obviously
different, and finding yourself in it. Acting' stands for the portrayal of various characters in
different contexts. Moreover, this is the area where a person may represent himself/herself in a
true image. This film's performance contributes to the friendly brilliance of the movie. While I
sincerely wish that Simon read a little more homosexual because in some parts simon is the
one who’s narrating the film, Robinson as Simon is certainly a charm, a beautiful man who
performs with devotion and compassion. The actors who act with Simon's friends, foes and
romantic interests are all encouraged to offer a trustworthy energy for socializing to the
teenage film although they are a little more eloquent than their real-life counterparts. The
Berlanti direction and the strong cast, especially Robinson's performances.

I liked the movie personally. It was subtly different from Hollywood's "standard" teen-flavored
romantic movies but also provides a very strong and loving story: a love of self-worthiness and
a decision to come out as a homosexual man. Simon's cast in love is surprisingly wonderful, and
most young casts are good at their respective roles. The leading actor is Nick Robinson, the
main protagonist of the film, Simon Spiers, who excels differently in his role and gives this
multifaceted character wonderfully his acting skills. Given Love, Simon is simply about Simon
Spier's character and the entire path, the entire film essentially hinges on the success of
Robinson, which he draws away with great success. At one point, he is charismatic, at another
desperately insecure, and he feels the stereotypically impressive teen. It should also be noted
that Robinson's performance as an up-and-coming gay young man is the main focus of the
feature; a character many people are likely to relate to and have never seen in a cinema.

The act of Love, Simon was phenomenal. From joy to fear to abject desperation, Nick Robinson
played the lead in the film, Simon Spier, very well. Simon's friends, played by Katherine
Langford, Alexandra Shipp and Jorge Lendeborg Jr., all acted well as did Josh Duhamel and
Jennifer Garner as Simon's parents. There was a lot of feeling in "Love, Simon" and a lot of
dialogue. Both were brilliantly done by the cast. The film was remarkably deep in depth. It dealt
with believable characters and complex motives and dealt with the themes of sexuality and
gender with extraordinary grace.

Production Design
The production designer is responsible for everything you see. They're coming up with set
designs. The production designer in this film is Aaron Osborne. Basically, if a film is shot in a
house, the designer of the production is responsible for the interior of the room, such as
interior decoration. If the set has to be built from scratch, they're responsible for what it looks
like and the layout. In this film, most of all the scenes are from Simon’s house and his room.

Usually, I do not really pay a lot of attention to set design, but the settings of some of the
scenes in this film were incredible. Simon's bedroom was packed with posters, and also the
attention to detail that the designers had to put in was incredible. From the "Bob's Burgers"
poster at the entrance. Simon's room looked genuine at the Nightclub memorabilia in the
bathroom. And that wasn't the only one. The houses of some of Simon's friends were just as
true. I was really struck by the meticulous details of the background, especially the carnival
scene where Simon finally met “Blue”, and it was magical. The theme of the film was great. It
retained an emphasis on individuality and the search to discover oneself.

The film dealt with conflicts between friends, morals, and the amount of time we're going to go
for love. It depicted a lack of understanding, confusion and need to make mistakes. It has
highlighted family, change, and regret. Quite interestingly, it took us home and tied everything
up in a sweet little movie. The film dealt with all these concepts and went out on the other side
without drowning under the weight of all of them, a truly impressive accomplishment for
director Greg Berlanti.
References:
Hammond, Pete (March 9, 2018). "'Love, Simon' Review: Winning Comedy About Gay High
Schooler Is One From The Heart". Deadline Hollywood.
Freeman, Molly (February 26, 2018). "Love, Simon Review: A Modern Teen Rom-Com Classic"
Goldstein, Meredith (March 15, 2018). "'Love, Simon' says a lot, and it's all good". The Boston
Globe.