THE IDEA OF YOU - Mark Reviews Movies

The Idea of You, Amazon MGM Studios

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Review by Mark Dujsik | May 1, 2024

The premise of The Idea of You may sound like a thing of fantasy, but the makers of this film, about the romance between an ordinary 40-year-old woman and a 24-year-old pop star, take the idea seriously. There's a real sense of understanding for these two characters, both of whom want more than what their respective lives have had to offer so far, and it helps immensely that the connection between the actors feels sincere, too.

This story comes from a novel by Robinne Lee, and without offering any direct opinion about the nature or quality of the book, the setup certainly sounds like something that belongs in the mass-market romance section a bookstore. Here's a good example of why one shouldn't judge a movie based on the notion of what one imagines the source material's cover might look like.

Yes, the means by which the story gets Solène (Anne Hathaway) and Hayes (Nicholas Galitzine) to meet and fall for each other are pretty ridiculous. By giving the characters room and time to breathe before and after that fateful meeting, though, co-writers Michael Showalter, who also directed, and Jennifer Westfeldt make them believable enough to overlook most of the contrivances this narrative has to offer.

For example, Solène lives a mundane but hectic suburban life as the divorced mother of teenaged daughter Izzy (Ella Rubin), who's about to start her senior year of high school. Approaching her 40th birthday, Solène might miss her daughter, but since she and her ex-husband Daniel (Reid Scott) had the girl so young, she's also looking forward to being more than mother, an ex-wife who was jilted by her husband for a younger woman, and someone who never really had the time to figure out who she is. There's a bit of uncomfortable honesty about such matters at her birthday party, where Solène pretty much says all of that, everyone basically gets it, and, in terms of any romantic prospects, all the men around her age are as boring as she probably fears she has become.

The big change in her life arrives when Solène has to cancel a solo camping trip at the last minute to bring Izzy and her friends to a music festival (Daniel has an important work matter come up, and as apparently is the case with this relationship, that takes priority). The teens have backstage passes for and a meet-and-greet opportunity with their favorite boy band in grade school, and in a meet-cute that's actually a genuinely cute chance meeting, Solène ends up in Hayes' private trailer, believing it's a VIP restroom. The chemistry between them is as immediate as the situation is awkward.

That vague but palpable notion we call "chemistry" is one of the necessities of a good screen romance, so that's taken care of here. It can only get such material so far, though, and Showalter and Westfeldt clearly know that. Something else has to support that feeling of attraction and tension, and in this case, it's the fact that these two characters actually do talk to each other—not just about the unlikely nature of their relationship, but also about who they are, where they've been, and what they want to do.

What's fascinating about the screenplay is the way it cuts directly to how much Solène and Hayes have in common, despite how improbable it may seem. What could a single mother who owns an art gallery have in common with a British singer who has been internationally famous for almost half of his young life? The fact that the film cares enough to ask that question elevates it above any suspicion that the material exists as some kind of fantastical wish fulfillment. That Showalter and Westfeldt actually have an answer that both makes sense and gives the bond some weight raises the story even higher.

Despite their relative successes, both Solène and Hayes are longing for something. We already know what that is for her, and even if a whirlwind romance is sort of counter to Solène's desire to figure out who she is as a person, who says that having the freedom to have a whirlwind romance with a pop star doesn't get at the heart of what Solène wants for her life in the first place?

After all, she's smart enough to know as much, if her initial hesitation whenever the two are alone is any indication. Hathaway's performance gets at that conflict, and there's something admirable about how the eventually problems for this relationship have less to do with matters of age or public scrutiny (Those come up, obviously, but only, notably, when the romance is discovered) and everything to do with what she believes to be best for herself and, later, her daughter.

Solène is a solid character, in other words, and it's intriguing to watch as Hayes, who starts as a charismatic figure of no little desire for Solène (and countless other, of course), becomes one himself. Here's a young man who, like Solène in certain respects, had his life decided and planned out for him without him years ago without even realizing it. Hayes might be something of an amusing joke early on (flashing around his wealth and ordering only chicken fingers from room service), but there's a degree of self-awareness and even wisdom behind that effortless charm.

Sure, the plotting of The Idea of You can be as contrived as the premise is gimmicky, but as a romance, it succeeds quite well by knowing and providing the basics. It's two characters, whom we come to know and get to like, talking about what matters to them and connecting because of it.

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