As a high-school romcom, ”Love, Simon” is perfectly adequate. The plot might not be the most believable, the characters might not have the most depth, the jokes might not be the most funny, but a film like this only really needs to be good enough, and in that respect, ”Love, Simon” is perfect. Though it does get uncomfortable at points, ”Love, Simon” is a film that should ultimately make you feel good about yourself and the world around you. It has a certain optimistic strut to it, where even in its darkest moments there is a feeling like it will all get better. And it does. Though ”Love, Simon” has its flaws, I can’t help but feel that director Greg Berlanti did everything he set out to do.

Set in an upper-class suburban high school, ”Love, Simon” tells the story of Simon (Nick Robinson), a 17-year-old student who claims to be just like you, even though his house and family and the car that he owns at the age of 17 show that he is clearly wealthier than the majority of his audience. Simon is mostly comfortable with his current life, except for the fact that, as he puts it, “I have one huge-ass secret.” He’s gay, and nobody else knows. But when another student at his school makes an online profile under a pseudonym to hide his own homosexuality, Simon starts an anonymous email conversation with him. As Simon and the mysterious “Blue” grow closer to each other, Simon tries to discover the true identity of his digital beau, while also trying to decide whether or not to continue keeping his own sexuality hidden from the world.

Though largely inconsequential to the story at large, the comedic highlight of ”Love, Simon” must be the school’s vice principal, Mr. Worth. The trend for such highschool romcoms today seems to be the acquisition of established comedic actors for authority figures, with this one snagging the impeccable Tony Hale. Though Hale’s performance might leave one asking how this man ever got this job, every scene that he’s in could be used in a master class on awkward humor.

For all its Hale scenes, though, ”Love, Simon” does suffer its fair share of flaws. The final reveal of Blue’s identity, for example, is a bit of a let-down. Not terrible, but not good either. Throughout the film, it’s never clear whether or not Blue’s identity is meant to be puzzle the audience like in a true mystery film, though the ending was almost insulting to anyone who had been trying to figure things out.
“Love, Simon” is everything that it needs to be. Though it is imperfect, this quality is potentially beneficial, as it goes even further to normalize homosexuality. Now we can see how films about gay characters can be just as fine as their straighter counterparts. Though it is about a gay kid’s story, this is not a “gay film.” ”Love, Simon” is a film for everyone that happens to be from the perspective of a character often sidelined in other films of the genre. So, though it might not be the best, it is quite nice.