I can’t fault the casting, as the two characters are played extremely well. The movie certainly didn’t “fall apart”. I don’t have any problem with a movie portraying gay love, and I don’t even have any problem with a movie portraying a relationship between people of disparate ages - even these ages - as being possibly powerful or positive. And by the way, it is clear that the kid was the pursuer and that the older guy was initially a bit wary of getting involved (although that doesn’t really matter, legally).

My problem is with the portrayal of the parents, particularly at the end of the film, and particularly the script during the penultimate scene that everyone seems to be lauding. To me it sent a weird, creepy message and I felt manipulated. If the parents were oblivious (or knew and were at least a little bit protective), I would have had far less objection.