Usually an actor’s “Oscar moment” comes three quarters through a movie. Denzel or Meryl or Viola or Kate or Halle breaks down, screams to the sky, leaves their husband, smashes a lamp and thanks their agent.
But the Academy Award-worthy moment in “Call Me by Your Name,” a sublime new movie about a gay summer romance in Italy, arrives in the film’s final two minutes. During the end credits, no less.
Rising young star Timothée Chalamet plays a 17-year-old guy who loses his first real love. Naturally, he’s crushed as a result. So, as the film flickers to a close, Chalamet stares into a fireplace quietly crying as the names roll on the screen. It’s the saddest Yule log ever.
In the single shot, you can really see Chalamet’s character (called Elio) contemplate his all-encompassing sorrow and come to a tough understanding that he’s both better and worse off for what happened with Oliver (Armie Hammer) that summer.
It’s a shrewd bit of acting from a young actor, who’s only 21, and a real punch in the gut.
The genius ending could clinch an Oscar nomination for Chalamet, who also appears in this year’s other critics’ darling, “Lady Bird.” He’s terrific throughout “Call Me by Your Name” — particularly his physicality, which alternates between awkwardness and teenage swagger — but that final button is just remarkable.
Some may say it’s too subdued to snag a trophy that tends to reward oversized turns. There’s no hollering or smeared mascara or snot here. But it’s no less accomplished a performance than, say, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone in “La La Land,” who were both Oscar nominated (Stone won). Same goes for Saoirse Ronan in “Brooklyn.”
Here’s hoping Chalamet is called by his name on Tuesday, Jan. 23, when Oscar nominations are announced.