"Summer of '42" and when the lonely older woman is Jennifer O'Neill...well...deflower away please.
So, now in 2017, we have diversity and social conscious-itis and that tried-and-true plot now involves an older guy and a younger boy. Thank God the producers didn't cast Kevin Spacey or this movie would have marketing problems from Hell. But, the story arc of "Call Me By Your Name" is almost identical to "Summer of '42." And frankly, despite accolades from on high, the latter is a much better movie.
Indeed, "Call Me By Your Name" is nowhere near the praise it is getting. Oh, sure, there's more Oscar buzz here than you'd find in a hundred hives and some of it is justified. The leads of the younger boy and the older guy are played by Timothee Chalamet and Armie Hammer are excellent as the central couple here. But, there are problems afoot that ultimately sunk the film for me.
It is the summer of 1983. Seventeen-year-old Elio lives with his Jewish parents in a gorgeous Northern Italy villa. Twenty-four-year-old Oliver comes for the summer as a graduate student interning for Elio's dad. Now, even though Elio's got himself a little Italian cutie, he is drawn to Oliver, who knows it. He leads the boy on and then blows him off. This just confuses Elio no end as he sneaks into Oliver's room to smell his underwear.
Well, you know where this is going. Before long, they are in the local swimming hole and then riding their bicycles through very quaint Italian villages. And, oh yeah, having sex and lots of it.
Now none of this bothers me as a storyline, even though you are thoroughly exhausted by the tenth time they swim in the pond, pedals through the town, and give each other blow jobs. Judicious editing would have brought the movie in under an incomprehensible two hours plus running time. Especially when ten minutes are dedicated to a scene where Elio masturbates into the middle of a peach. Hey, folks, I recommend you stay away from the fruit salad.
But the length is just one of the issues. The main disconnect for me came with the optics of the casting. Chalamet is a very young looking 17. Hammer is a very old looking 24. Indeed, Hammer himself is 31. As a result, the romps between Elio and Oliver make them appear less like lovers and more like Wally and the Beaver. There's absolutely nothing wrong with their acting, but both are incredibly miscast on a visual level.
So, at the end, I didn't buy the movie because I didn't buy the look of it. What should have been a beautiful story comes off as terribly creepy and, in that case, you should have cast Kevin Spacey anyway.
I'm probably going to be a dissenter here about "Call Me By Your Name," especially on Oscar night. But, for all the reasons it should work, the film just doesn't. And I might not be the only one feeling this way. In my industry-laden screening where great films usually are met by applause at the end, the folks I was with him exited quietly. Not a single clap.
Hmmm.
LEN'S RATING: Two-and-a-half stars.
Dinner last night: Leftover ground beef, mac and cheese.
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