My wife, who is a huge fan of the book, invited friends of hers who are also fans to our place for movie night. They liked it more than her. I thought it was fine, but given her experience with the subject material, her review is more interesting than mine.
She said: “It would have been a better adaptation and a better movie if it was closer to the book. This just felt like it was made for Netflix.”
I think it’s amusing that “made for Netflix” is becoming a pejorative, rather than the compliment it once was.
As for my thoughts on the movie? It’s fine. I haven’t read the book and I probably never will, but this really felt like a more pedestrian version of The Princess Diaries, but for gay people. And I love that gay people are getting movies for them, and they have been treated to some excellent ones (Carol, Call Me By Your Name, and Moonlight come to mind). But they also deserve some congratulations for getting a film made for them that’s as bland as the romcoms they normally make about straight people.
Forgettable.