Love, Simon Book vs Movie Review

Love, Simon

Plot Synopsis: A young coming-of-age teenage boy, Simon Spier, goes through a different kind of Romeo and Juliet story. Simon has a love connection with a boy, Blue, by email, but the only problem is that Simon has no idea who he’s talking to. Simon must discover who that boy is–who Blue is. Along the way, he tries to find himself as well

Director: Greg Berlanti

Staring: Nick Robinson, Jennifer Garner, Josh Duhamel

Movie info from IMDb

 

 

 

 

Here’s the obligatory spoilers warning. Proceed if you are ok with that!

 

I was cautiously excited about seeing Love, Simon. I found the book delightful. But what if the movie is bad? What if I’m disappointed, already knowing the ending? Or even worse, what if they CHANGE the ending? But I can honestly say after seeing the movie that I thoroughly enjoyed it.

For me, the casting is on point. Nick Robinson is captivaing. (Even Buzzfeed says so.)

Via Giphy

We’ve know Nick from Melissa and Joey, The Fifth Wave, and even Jurassic Park. Maybe it’s because I read the book a few weeks ago and I’ve been inundated with posters and trailers for this movie, but Nick really embodies Simon for me. He’s charming and emotionally vulnerable throughout the movie. I can’t imagine any other actor in this role.

The secondary cast is just as impressive. The parents we wished for as teens (Jennifer Garner and Josh Duhamel). Martin (Logan Miller) is still a jerk. Like Simon, I wouldn’t be able to pick between the potential Blue’s (Keiynan Lonsdale, Miles Heizer, and Joey Pollari), either. Simon’s great friends (Katherine Langford, Alexandra Shipp, and and Jorge Lendeborg Jr.) are supportive and accepting. Kudos to the casting department for the movie.

Comparing the book to the movie, there are a number of changes made, some I liked; others, not so much.

The improved upon the book changes:

• Adding the character of Ethan as an already out teen gives Simon someone to commiserate with.
• Nora is into cooking instead of in a secret band with Leah. That plot line in the book never made sense to me anyway.
• Martin not being a potential Blue. Martin is a jerk. No way he should ever be Blue.

Via Giphy

The I’m indifferent about these changes:

• Cutting out Alice, Simon’s older sister, from the story.
• Fewer scenes with the drama kids.
• Lyle as another potential Blue.

Via Giphy

The egregious changes:

• Changing the email address that Simon uses.
• Changing the musical from Oliver! to Cabaret. Really? Cabaret? In high school?
• The Elliot Smith T-shirt is cut out altogether.
• The ending, while satisfying, was changed from the book. Don’t worry, everyone, the same character is Blue. But they meet on a Ferris wheel in a much more public setting than the original tilt-a-whirl.  😯

Via Giphy

One caveat to the above list. In the movie, Blue’s emails are read by the different characters as Simon trys to figure out who Blue might be (Bram, Cal, or Lyle). This really threw me at first. I thought, oh no, are they really going to show us who Blue is, right from the beginning? That would be crazy and unacceptable. But once I figured out that each character reads the emails, not just the real Blue, I really liked how those scenes played out.

Both the movie and the book are adorable. Watch the movie. Read the book. Either way, you can’t go wrong!

Book:

 

Movie:

 

 

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