The first word I would use to describe Call Me by Your Name would be long. Regardless of how good or well done or beautifully produced the movie may be (which I will touch on later), the first thing ringing in my mind as the movie came to a close, was how incredibly long it was.

With a runtime of just over two hours, I have seen much, much longer movies. However, there were so many scenes that were highly unnecessary to the overall plot of the movie that it made it seem like it was borderline three, maybe four, hours by the time it was finally over.

For example, I wish I had counted the number of scenes that included the family eating breakfast. Regardless of how much of the Italian culture is surrounded around food or how much I appreciated the director, Luca Guadagnino’s, choice of including this in the movie, I did not need to see an entire summer of it.

That being said, the rest of the movie was excellent. The character development of Oliver (Armie Hammer) was above and beyond anything I expected when I sat down to watch. When he first arrived at his summer home, staying as a student at his professor’s home along with the professor’s family, he was as cliche American as he could be. I hated him. Maybe because he did such a good job of portraying an American in an out-of-culture experience, or just that he stuck out like a sore thumb in a quiet, Italian summer town. Regardless, he was annoying. It wasn’t until nearly halfway through the movie that I started to warm up to him, but once I started, I did so very quickly.

For Elio (Timoth e Chalamet), I was warm from the beginning. His quiet, self-inflicting, yet highly intelligent character was one to love and root for from the beginning. He embodied an awkward 17-year-old in its entirety and almost made it uncomfortable to watch at some points as he slowly figured more and more out about his own feelings.

As Elio and Oliver slowly became more acquainted with one another throughout the film and figured out their feelings for one another, I was more than encaptured. Every bike ride, trip to swim, and glance at one another spoke for itself and made up for the lack of conversation which was not missed at all.

Along with this was the cinematography. It was beautiful. Each scene was done in a unique way from unique angles that helped better express the scene and the character development. The landscaping was beautiful along with the lighting, which honestly made the movie that much better.

Overall, Call Me by Your Name, while long, exceeded all expectations. It is rated R and for good reason, but with a mature mindset going in, the story of Elio and Oliver is beautiful. Watching their relationship grow was well worth the two hours it took in the end, and I will be happy to watch it again.