The Idea of You’s title comes from a heated conversation about expectations versus reality between art dealer Solène Marchand (Anne Hathaway) and pop star Hayes Campbell (Nicholas Galitzine). While the conversation is about their whirlwind romance, it can also apply to the film. What should audiences expect from a story where a divorced mother falls for the leader of a popular boy band? What is the idea of The Idea of You, and does the reality meet the preconceived notions?
Some may think that level of consideration grants too much credit to a film that, on paper, amounts to anonymized boy band fanfiction. Filmmaker Michael Showalter doesn’t shy from the highwire, improbable fantasy. Solène and Hayes have their clandestine first meeting in a VIP trailer at Coachella, where his band, August Moon, is performing, and she’s chaperoning her daughter Izzy. Hayes is charmed by how nonplussed she is by the machine around him. Solène thinks he’s attractive (as does half the world) but doesn’t take him too seriously. Hayes pursues her, but she puts him off because there are several reasons why they can’t work. (Some include their age gap, his celebrity, her daughter, and her ex-husband.) He eventually wears down her defenses, and the two embark on a love affair, with Solène joining August Moon on their European world tour, away from prying eyes (or so they think).
Of course, romantic comedies are meant to be improbable fantasies. Still, a boy bander flying out his older love interest for a passionate New York hookup pushes against the bubble and invites mockery. Showalter combats that inherently sexist cynicism by giving Solène and Hayes’s relationship a genuine and thoughtful foundation. Rather than relying on easy archetypes, Showalter builds upon the characters outlined in Robinne Lee’s novel. Solène is beautifully complex, a woman seeking her footing after a brutal divorce but still capable of humor, passion, dignity, condescension, and self-awareness. The film is more hers than Hayes’s, and it’s better for it. Through her, it deftly explores what womanhood looks like for a single parent considering their next phase. The script makes all the jokes you would expect but treats Solène with grace for her decisions, logical or not. It’s hard to mock a character so fully realized.
Hayes isn’t as well sketched out as Solène, but his fledgling self-awareness and dissatisfaction with his life and career are compelling. He knows the world sees him as the ultimate teenage dream, and that that perception has an expiration date. Eating sandwiches in her kitchen, Hayes and Solène bond over their shared weariness and desire to be seen and appreciated. Fantasy it may be, but how and why they connect is grounded in relatable concerns about self-actualization and acceptance. Hayes and Solène are jaded but not joyless, and seeing them experience joy together is one of the greatest delights. The requisite incognito dates and hotel room dance parties are great, but their conversations make the relationship work.
Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine are well-suited to the film’s compellingly measured approach to romance and each other. Hathaway turns in her highest-wattage movie star performance in years, practically glowing on screen. She tempers that warmth with playful cynicism and whispers of sadness stemming from Solène’s divorce. The shades of pain and resignation that play across Hathaway’s face make her moments of pure happiness irresistible. Galitzine isn’t the most convincing pop star (the tattoos and costumes hold him back), but he turns in another emotionally rich performance. He’s charming as Hayes bumbles through wooing Solène, and he’s shattering when he realizes their relationship might not last. Hathaway and Galitzine make a sparkling pair, with doe-eyed chemistry that translates surprisingly well into genuine heat. Together, they bring us firmly in Hayes and Solène’s corner before they kiss and after everything goes to hell.
Two things hold The Idea of You back from pure, unadulterated rom-com bliss. The first is how the film overplays Hayes and Solène’s irreconcilable differences after winning us to their side. The third act basically gives the couple two breakups, with different reasons and resolutions. The final third is split in half, with a midway resolution suggesting their story ends in an appropriately easy way. The second half returns to a grounded storytelling approach and is genuinely more heartbreaking. It also resolves in a way that makes the pain of both sub-plots ultimately more meaningful. Still, the best version of the final act commits to the second half’s beats, while borrowing from the first.
The second, more nitpicky issue is August Moon itself. While the boys are collectively charming enough to believe they’re globe-spanning pop sensations, they rarely look the part. Their costuming gives the impression that August Moon is made up of five guys who hang out at the mall, with drab colors and unflattering silhouettes. It’s hard to imagine seeing them on a poster and dedicating your life to them as their fanbase does in the film.
The idea of The Idea of You is a cheesy, nonsensical, age-gap romance that would barely warrant a passing glance on Prime Video. The reality is an utterly charming and thoughtful romantic comedy, one of the year’s best. Michael Showalter treats his cheesy, nonsensical age-gap romance with grounded dignity while indulging in the high-wire fantasy that comes on the tin. Reality rarely exceeds perception in Hollywood, which is why The Idea of You is one of the year’s best surprises.
The Idea of You is currently available to stream exclusively on Prime Video.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8i6PB0gGOA]
The idea of The Idea of You is a cheesy, nonsensical, age-gap romance that would barely warrant a passing glance on Prime Video. The reality is an utterly charming and thoughtful romantic comedy, one of the year's best.
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A late-stage millennial lover of most things related to pop culture. Becomes irrationally irritated by Oscar predictions that don’t come true.
