Call Me By Your Name: Movie Review

Sensual love and haunting sadness.

Call Me By Your Name is a film about love and sadness. I would argue that that’s all it’s about and it’s beautiful. Timothée Chalamet stars as Elio a teenager in Italy who likes lounging about. Armie Hammer co-stars as Oliver an American who has come to stay with Elio’s family and work with his father. Elio doesn’t like Oliver much and just views him as another arrogant American. The subtle shifts in the characters and their perceptions is particularly good.		2017 Directed by: Luca Guadagnino Screenplay by: James Ivory Based on the novel by André Aciman Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Armie Hammer

Everything, Everything: Movie Review

Romance carries the movie everything else sinks it.

Everything, Everything wants to be both everything and nothing at the same time, and that doesn’t work. On one hand it looks like it wants to be an edgy, surreal, quirky film - at that it fails. At other times, all it's trying to be is a straight-forward teen romantic drama and it definitely succeeds at that. The story is straight out of The Boy in the Plastic Bubble, source material that is more fantasy than reality, and this adaptation from a young-adult novel isn't any more convincing.		2017 Directed by: Stella Meghie Screenplay by: J. Mills Goodloe Based on the book by Nicola Yoon Starring: Amandla Stenberg, Nick Robinson

1 Night: Movie Review

Short and sweet romantic drama for teenagers and adults.

What 1 Night does well, really well, is examine love as a thirty-something adult and as a teenager. Four main characters: Bea and Andy are attending their high school prom, and Liz and Drew are at a turning point in their marriage. It’s about the similarities and differences as people age and grow up, and then finding something to relate to in all of these characters.		2016 Directed by: Minhal Baig Screenplay by: Minhal Baig Starring: Anna Camp, Justin Chatwin

La La Land: Movie Review

A movie of love, music and soul.

La La Land couldn’t have a more fitting title. An homage to LA, but more than that, an homage to the dreamers of LA and the life-as-a-musical that they could have. La La Land sells itself strictly as a romantic musical. The characters sing and dance as they fall in love – and even if that’s all it is, it would still be a pretty good movie. It's a movie that survives on the pure cinematic experience, but also provides a bit of soul.		2016 Directed by: Damien Chazelle Screenplay by: Damien Chazelle Starring: Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling

The Longest Ride: Movie Review

Romantic drama that checks all the right boxes.

The Longest Ride is Nicholas Sparks’ latest romantic drama to make it to the big screen, and I will still continue to watch them despite last year's The Best of Me being the worst one yet. That was unpleasant, but it’s also one of the exact reasons why it’s worth watching The Longest Ride (for fans of the genre only). No punches were pulled. What you see is what you get, and more importantly, what you wanted is what you get. No macabre twists, no deviations from the brand. Doesn’t that sound pleasant?		2015 Directed by: George Tillman Jr. Screenplay by: Craig Bolotin Based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks Starring: Britt Robertson, Scott Eastwood

Before We Go: Movie Review

A simple conversation becomes fun, funny and romantic with two great characters.

Before We Go is simple, romantic, talkative, conventional and it's great. It's exactly what you want in a character-based, dialogue-driven romantic drama where nothing happens other than two characters meet and get to know each other over one night in New York City. The characters are engagingly real, compassionate and yet cynical, and they beautifully evolve after knowing each other for just a few hours. The dialogue is witty and insightful and elevated to dynamic levels by the talented leads.		2014 Directed by: Chris Evans Screenplay by: Ron Bass, Jen Smolka, Chris Shafer and Paul Vicknair Starring: Chris Evans and Alice Eve

The Heart Machine: Movie Review

Romantic drama that's running on empty.

The Heart Machine is a romantic drama thriller. One that is entirely driven by one thought; one part of a plot where characters are minimal and supporting characters and storylines are nonexistent. Cody (John Gallagher Jr.) is an awkward love-struck man in Brooklyn who’s in a long-distance relationship. Virginia (Kate Lyn Sheil) is his Skype girlfriend living in Berlin. Or so she says. She might be lying and Cody’s starting to suspect that she’s actually in New York.		2014 Directed by: Zachary Wigon Screenplay by: Zachary Wigon Starring: John Gallagher Jr., Kate Lyn Sheil

The Best of Me: Movie Review

The worst of Nicholas Sparks.

Ten years ago, Nicholas Sparks’ The Notebook (2004) was released. Its long simmering success has made “the Nicholas Sparks romantic drama” its own brand, helped launch the careers of Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling, and it’s a frequent punch-line in popular movies and shows. It also starred James Marsden in a small role as the man McAdams’ was supposed to marry. This year’s The Best of Me owes a lot to its predecessor, and not just its leading man.		2014 Directed by: Michael Hoffman Screenplay by: J. Mills Goodloe, Will Fetters Based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks Starring: James Marsden, Luke Bracey, Michelle Monaghan and Liana Liberato

Obvious Child: Movie Review

Surpassing the romantic comedy genre with hilarity.

Obvious Child stars Jenny Slate as Donna Stern. She’s an aspiring stand-up comedian, and night after night she bares her soul for everybody to see who she is, to relate to her, to laugh at her, and to laugh with her. Her material is certainly risqué but it’s also just life. She challenges everybody with acknowledging the facts of life and then just laughing at the absurdities of it all.		2014 Directed by: Gillian Robespierre Screenplay by: Gillian Robespierre Starring: Jenny Slate, Jake Lacy and Gaby Hoffman

Very Good Girls: Movie Review

Very dull girls make for a dull movie.

Very Good Girls opens with Lilly (Dakota Fanning) and Gerri (Elizabeth Olsen) skinny dipping at a public beach in the middle of the day and with that the girls shed their good girl exteriors. It’s the summer before college and they’re struggling with that coming of age time. They’re virgins, their happiness and their confidence is fragile, and they’re both determined to change who they are, or how they are perceived.		2013 Directed by: Naomi Foner Screenplay by: Naomi Foner Starring: Dakota Fanning, Elizabeth Olsen

If I Stay: Movie Review

Come for the tears, stay for the romance.

If I Stay builds up the characters and their relationships long before it really presents the title dilemma, but that’s probably best for your tear ducts. Only a fraction of the movie is set in present day but the car accident that places 17-year-old Mia Hall (Chloe Grace Moretz) in a coma is at the beginning and then we get flashbacks to her childhood, musical education and especially to her boyfriend Adam. It’s just as much a romantic drama as it is a tear-jerker.		2014 Directed by: R.J. Cutler Screenplay by: Shauna Cross Based on novel by Gayle Forman Starring: Chloe Grace Moretz, and Jamie Blackley

She Loves Me Not: Movie Review

Three chapters about one writer tied together thematically but poorly executed.

“She Loves Me Not” is categorized as a comedy and romance, suggesting a romantic comedy, but that couldn't be further from the truth. It’s also described as being three vignettes. In that regard, it’s better. “She Loves Me Not” really tells one story of struggling novelist Brady Olinson (Cary Elwes), told in three chapters. While each chapter is distinct, the slow evolution of Brady ties them all together.		2013 Directed by: Brian Jun, Jack Sanderson Screenplay by: Brian Jun, Jack Sanderson Starring: Cary Elwes

Belle: Movie Review

Beautiful portraiture of equality and a woman desperate to find her place in life.

“Belle” is the story of an illegitimate mixed-race daughter of a Royal Navy Admiral raised by her aristocratic High Court great uncle in England in the late 1700s. Dido Elizabeth Belle Lindsay (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) has a curious, but heart-warming place in society and in history, and the film tells her story beautifully. Her story isn’t entirely known, but the film fills in the missing times between the factual touch-points with a mix between the expectations for the time and what the audience would want to see.		2013 Directed by: Amma Asante Screenplay by: Misan Sagay Starring: Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sam Reid, Tom Wilkinson and Sarah Gadon

Stuck in Love: Movie Review

A romantic drama that survives on the empathy for the main characters.

Younger brother, Rusty (Nat Wolff), is an aspiring writer; older sister, Samantha (Lily Collins), is an up-and-coming writer; and father, Bill Borgens (Greg Kinnear), is an accomplished writer. And, as you can guess from the title, they are all “Stuck in Love”. Rusty’s in love with a girl from his class who doesn’t know him, Sam refuses to fall in love, and dad Bill is still waiting for his ex-wife to come back to him.		2013 Directed by: Josh Boone Screenplay by: Josh Boone Starring: Nat Wolff, Lily Collins and Greg Kinnear

Brightest Star: Movie Review

A meandering romantic drama about losing love and finding yourself.

“Brightest Star” is an indie romantic drama about the journey of winning back the love of your life versus finding yourself. The Boy (Chris Lowell) loved Charlotte (Rose McIver) and lost Charlotte, and now he’s lost himself and will do whatever it takes to get her back. That’s right, our lead character doesn’t have a name but every other main character does. If you haven’t figured it out yet, he doesn’t know himself very well.		2013 Directed by: Maggie Kiley Screenplay by: Maggie Kiley and Matthew Mullen Starring: Chris Lowell and Rose McIver

Safe Haven: Movie Review

Tricks us with the type of mystery it was and the lead deserved better.

“Safe Haven” is based on the Nicholas Sparks novel. It’s a romantic drama. This means that the Nicholas Sparks romantic drama fans will like it; those who are not fans will probably not like it. The good thing about this movie is that it tries to do something different. The bad thing is that it doesn’t work. The movie starts with a dark, thriller element that should lead to an interesting mystery, but turns out it was all nonsense.		2013 Directed by: Lasse Hallstrom Screenplay by: Dana Stevens, Gage Lansky Starring: Julianne Hough, Josh Duhamel

Before Midnight: Movie Review

The evolution of lives, the devolution of a relationship, the fight of immaturity versus maturity.

Eighteen years later, and we once again get to look in on the lives of Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) for a day. Richard Linklater is a master of dialogue; “Before Sunrise” (1995) and “Before Sunset” (2004) frequently cited as examples of the best written romantic dramas in existence. The good news is that “Before Midnight” fits in that line. Jesse and Celine have finally found time in their hectic lives to just have a meandering conversation again.		2013 Directed by: Richard Linklater Screenplay by: Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke and Richard Linklater Starring: Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy

The Great Gatsby: Movie Review

Famous scenes and symbolism re-imagined beautifully but also problematically.

“In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since. ‘Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,’ he told me, ‘just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.’” I have been frequently convinced that Baz Luhrmann does not know how to read, but I do have the advantage of literacy. However, I am not Nick Carraway and am not compelled to follow his father’s advice that opens Fitzgerald’s classic novel.		2013 Directed by: Baz Luhrmann Screenplay by: Baz Luhrmann, Craig Pearce Based on the novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton

Straight A's: Movie Review

Simple family dynamics haphazardly put together.

"Straight A's" is a simple family drama. The mysterious Uncle Scott (Ryan Phillippe) and his drug use and slacker attitude is a bad influence on the Henderson kids. Uptight Katherine (Anna Paquin) just wants him out of the house and wants her distant husband William (Luke Wilson) back home. The kids are pretty separate from all of this - they have their own story line where Scott shows them that "there's more to life than getting straight A's."		2013 Directed by: James Cox Screenplay by: David Cole Starring: Ryan Phillippe, Anna Paquin and Luke Wilson

The First Time: Movie Review

A teen romance that is sweet and charming.

“The First Time” is not just about having sex for the first time, but falling in love for the first time, and also just being yourself in front of the object of your affection for the first time. Aubrey (Britt Robertson) has a boyfriend (we’ll get to him later) and Dave (Dylan O’Brien) is infatuated with a girl who will probably never like him for who he really is – she’s just too into herself for that to ever happen.		2012 Directed by: Jon Kasdan Screenplay by: Jon Kasdan Starring: Britt Robertson, Dylan O'Brien, and James Frecheville