The Idea of You (2024)

Predictable, Glossy RomCom - The Idea of You review by GI

There's more 'rom' than 'com' in this romcom which is aided by the star power of Anne Hathaway and presented with the slick look and finesse of mainstream Hollywood production even though it's straight to streaming on Amazon. Overall it's an assured and reasonably entertaining film that really pushes the boundaries of credibility and stops short of addressing any of the issues that it raises and in that sense it seems clearly aimed at a certain audience. Hathaway plays Solène, a 40 year old single mum still bruised from the collapse of her marriage to a real dickhead, and manager of a slick art gallery. Accompanying her 16 year old daughter, Izzy (Ella Rubin), to a music festival she has an encounter with the hottest member of a famous boy band, Hayes (Nicholas Galitzine). A relationship gradually begins between them despite Solène's wariness due to their age difference (he's 24). She doesn't seem to consider the media storm that soon engulfs them when their relationship gets revealed. Of course the trajectory is always towards a happy ending but the narrative doesn't deal effectively with why Hayes, a young man who can basically sexually have anyone he wishes, pursues this older woman quite so energetically. Solène's sexual desires are clearly on display here, and you can't ignore that she is actually Anne Hathaway who is a very beautiful woman and has the experience that perhaps Hayes hasn't yet found. The main narrative theme of the age difference seems hardly one of concern here although it crops up throughout especially once Solène begins to be the subject of hate and trolling. The dark role of social media and the paperazzi is obvious here too but not fully explored to a satisfactory level. It's the ultimate arc of the narrative that is predictable and uninspiring that leaves the film short but it's a film that will be popular I've little doubt and a shame that the ending didn't follow the more cynical one of the novel from which the film is adapted.