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 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 concerns the unfolding of the storyline, and viewers nowadays are searching for a
plausible story. While there were some seemingly scripted moments, the entire story remained
believable and convincing because it showed the real-life hardships of a boy who was terrified
to come out to his family and friends. For example, in the movie, Everything is going well with
Simon when someone takes hold of his emails with ‘blue’ and threatens to share them with the
whole school if Simon refuses to help him out with his crush. Simon continues meddling and
exploiting his mates to keep his secret hidden, that is, before the game comes home. Simon is
waiting silently by as he no longer has control of the situation as his emails are published all
over the school gossip page. Anyone who goes through or has been through the burden of
coming out may relate to the fear of coming out before the person is able to face the
challenges of letting everyone know who you really are. Simon sees his world slowly falling
apart as his best friends understand the meddling and leave him in his time of need. These
problems resonated with the audience, making the film more true to life.

Some film critics claim that the film did not deliver something new, its effort to step away from
the traditional romantic film template is notable. The standard ending that most people expect
romantic comedy is a happy one, where the boy and the girl end up together. However in this
film, two boys fell in love with each other and it's something new to other people because this
kind of movie is rarely seen in cinemas.

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. The performances of this film further contribute to the amiable sparkle of the
movie. While I wish his Simon read, honestly, a little more homosexual, Robinson is no doubt a
charmer, a gorgeous man who gives a devoted, compassionate performance. The actors who
play Simon's friends, enemies, and romantic interests all have good encouragement, offering
the teenage film a believable energy to socialize, even though the actors are a little more
eloquent than their real-life counterparts. The direction of Berlanti and the strong
performances of the cast, particularly of Robinson.

Personally, I liked the film. It was subtly different from the “norm” of teen-flavoured romance
movies that Hollywood has recently churned, but also provides a very strong story that is both
very loving and gentle; a story of self-worthiness love, and a decision to come out as a gay
male.
The cast in Love, Simon is surprisingly awesome, with most of the young cast doing well in their
respective roles. At the head of the pack is the actor Nick Robinson, who plays the main
protagonist of the film, Simon Spiers, who excels in this role differently and lends his acting
skills wonderfully to this multifaceted character. Keeping in mind the Love, Simon is simply
about the character of Simon Spier and his whole path, the whole film basically hinges on
Robinson's success, which he pulls off excellently. He's charismatic at one point, desperately
insecure at another, and he has the feeling of the stereotypical awesome teen that all of us
were once in our younger years. It must also be noted that Robinson's performance in treating
himself as a close-up gay adolescent is the key focal point of the feature; a character that many
people out there are likely to relate with and have never seen before in a movie theater.

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, basically. 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. 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.