Anne Hathaway plays Solène, the owner of a Silver Lake art gallery who is about to turn 40. When her flaky ex-husband (Reid Scott) can’t take their daughter Izzy (Ella Rubin) and her friends to a VIP experience in Coachella, she is forced to endure the trip to meet the desert.
Their father, Daniel, has brought his 16-year-old daughter VIP meet-and-greet passes with August Moon a band Izzy once loved but has since grown out of. What follows is a meet-cute that requires audiences to expend all beliefs. In the search for the VIP bathrooms, Solène accidentally ends up walking into August Moon’s tour bus and meeting 24-year-old Hayes Campbell (Nicholas Galitzine), who instantly falls for her.
The Idea Of You Review
August Moon, a band loosely based on One Direction, feels fully realized with its screaming fangirls, dated choreography, and cheesy songs. The actors (Nicholas Galitzine, Jaiden Anthony, Raymond Cham Jr., Viktor White, and Dakota Adan) all recorded original music for the movie, all in that early 2010s pop band style.
The Idea Of You requires suspending belief as the basic plot is a little contrived. Once audiences overcome how quickly these two jumps into a romance, it’s hard not be charmed by this romp about a celebrity chasing a civilian 16 years his senior.
This movie is less concerned with the age gap between the two and instead addresses the different types of baggage that get in the way of love. He struggles to trust people and to bring people into a world where he has to lie down in the back seat of the car to avoid the paparazzi. She has been burned by her cheated ex and has struggled to create a life for herself outside of providing for her daughter. At the heart of the film is a relatable story about the walls people need to tear down to find love after heartache.
Refreshingly, The Idea of You isn’t too concerned with the difference in Solène’s and Hayes’ ages and more about the baggage of their past. The movie sensitively explores Solène’s dilemma of choosing her family or her own happiness. By aging up Izzy from the novel, the movie can spend longing exploring the guilt of a mother finally indulging herself in her own passions.
The narrative buckles under the weight of the heavier, melodramatic final act. The film is much stronger at the start when the pair are flirting and enjoying a carefree romance around the world. In the finale act, when the film explores the serious ramifications of dating in your 40s and fame, it struggles to keep the tone. At almost two hours long the pacing does struggle in the middle and could have benefitted with being shaved down twenty-minutes or so, especially with so many expected beats.
The Idea of You is surprisingly sexy, with Hathaway and Galitzine delivering a sizzling chemistry. The bedroom scenes are much raunchier than many of its romantic peers, unabashedly exploring female sexuality. Galitzine more than proved himself as a romantic lead in Red, White & Royal Blue and Mary & George, and continues his roll as the confident yet soulful popstar. There is a hint of Harry Styles to the tattooed band member, yet his performance never feels mocking of these bands or their fans.
As good as Galitzine is, he is no match for Hathaway, who shines on screen. It’s hard to believe anyone would question someone as charming and beautiful, being the object of a young man’s affection. While the world of celebrity can be harsh to a woman over 30, Hathaway is perhaps too alluring to be believable for the role of an ordinary single mom.
Based on Robinne Lee’s popular beach read, director by Michael Showalter (The Big Sick) and co-written by Jennifer Westfeldt, The Idea Of You could have easily been a parody of these types of bands and their fan’s rabid obsession with them. Instead, Galitzine delivers a well-rounded portrayal of a man who wonders what life would be like without fame and longs to be something more than the British guy in August Moon.
The Idea of You is visually bland, feeling more like a teen drama and less like a star-studded film. It doesn’t offer anything particularly visionary in terms of plot (which was addressed in Notting Hill) or aesthetics. Despite the lack of innovation, The Idea of You is a comforting romance that is hard not to get wrapped up in thanks to two star-turns.
Score: B
The Idea Of You
Based on the acclaimed, contemporary love story of the same name, The Idea of You centers on Solène (Anne Hathaway), a 40-year-old single mom who begins an unexpected romance with 24-year-old Hayes Campbell (Nicholas Galitzine), the lead singer of August Moon, the hottest boy band on the planet. When Solène must step in to chaperone her teenage daughter’s trip to the Coachella Music Festival after her ex bails at the last minute, she has a chance encounter with Hayes and there is an instant, undeniable spark. As they begin a whirlwind romance, it isn’t long before Hayes’ superstar status poses unavoidable challenges to their relationship, and Solène soon discovers that life in the glare of his spotlight might be more than she bargained for.
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