In the warmly charming rom-com 鈥淭he Idea of You," plays a 40-year-old divorcee and Silver Lake art gallery owner who, after taking her teenage daughter to Coachella, becomes romantically involved with a 24-year-old heartthrob in the boy band August Moon. They first meet after she mistakes his trailer for the bathroom.
There are a few hundred things about this premise that might be farfetched, including the odds of finding love anywhere near the porta johns of a music festival. But one of them is not that a young star like Hayes Campbell ( ) would fall for a single mom like Sol猫ne (Hathaway).
Sol猫ne is stylish, unimpressed by Hayes' celebrity and has bangs so perfect they look genetically modified. And, most importantly, In the power dynamics of Hayes may be a fictional pop star but Hathaway is a very real movie star. And you don't forget it for a moment in Michael Showalter's lightly appealing showcase of the actor at her resplendent best.
鈥淭he Idea of You,鈥� which debuts Thursday on Prime Video, is full of all the kinds of contradictions that can make a rom-com work. The highly glamorous, megawatt-smiling Hathaway is playing a down-to-earth nobody. The showbiz veteran in the movie is played by Galitzine, a less well-known but whose performance in the movie is quite authentic. And even though the whole scenario is undeniably a glossy high-concept Hollywood fairy tale, Showalter gives it enough texture that 鈥淭he Idea of You鈥� comes off more natural and sincere than you'd expect.
The only thing that really needs to make perfect sense in a movie like 鈥淭he Idea of You鈥� is the chemistry. The film, penned by Showalter and Jennifer Westfeldt from Robinne Lee's bestseller, takes its time in the early scenes between Sol猫ne and Hayes 鈥� first then when he stops by her gallery 鈥� allowing their rapport to build convincingly, and giving each actor plenty of time to smolder.
Once the steamy hotel-room encounters come in 鈥淭he Idea of You,鈥� the movie has, if not swept you away, then at least ushered you along on a European trip of sex and room service. At the same time, it stays faithful to its central mission of celebrating middle-aged womanhood. The relationship will eventually cause a social media firestorm, but its main pressure point is whether Sol猫ne can stick with Hayes after her ex-husband ( ) cheated on her. This is a fairy tale she deserves.
While Showalter ( ) has long showed a great gift for juggling comedy and drama at once, 鈥淭he Idea of You鈥� leans more fully into wish-fulfillment romance. That can leave less to sustain the film, which has notably neutered some of the things that distinguished the book.
The has been shrunk a little. In the book, the singer is 20. Given that Galitzine is 29 and the 41-year-old Hathaway is no one's idea of old, this is more like a July-September relationship. In the book, the daughter (Ella Rubin) is a huge admirer of the pop singer, adding to the awkwardness, but in the movie, August Moon is 鈥渟o 7th grade鈥� to her.
There are surely more interesting and funnier places 鈥淭he Idea of You" could have gone. But Hathaway and Galitzine are a good enough match that, for a couple hours, it's easy to forget.
But the most convincing thing about 鈥淭he Idea of You鈥�? August Moon. The movie nails the look and sound of boy bands so well because it went straight to the source. The original songs in the film are by Savan Kotecha and Carl Falk, the producer-songwriters of, among other pop hits, 鈥淲hat Makes You Beautiful," debut single.
That connection will probably only further the sense that 鈥淭he Idea of You" is very nearly 鈥淭he Idea of Harry Styles.鈥� The filmmakers have distanced the movie from any But one thing is for sure: With August Moon following 4(asterisk)Town of (whose songs were penned by and ), we are living in the golden age of the fictional boy band.
鈥淭he Idea of You,鈥� an Amazon MGM Studios release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for some language and sexual content. Running time: 115 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
