The pandemic changed the way people watch movies and the way critics write about them. Here at Seven Days, where we used to limit ourselves to reviewing films currently in local theaters, the choices have opened up to include new streaming fare.
The explosion of options is a welcome change for the most part: Who really wants to hear a critic's take on something they would never choose to watch? We all have our personal tastes, and if you love inspirational sports dramas or Transformers or every single Marvel movie, I have no desire to kill your buzz. Given a choice, in this highly segmented marketplace, I would rather see a film that offers me the possibility of something unpredictable or exciting.
The downside of all this choice? More blandly positive reviews, fewer entertaining takedowns. Films that are decidedly "not for critics" can inspire the most creative criticism. Who could ever forget A.O. Scott's review of The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure, in which he channeled the voice and spelling of a 7-year-old to evaluate a movie that no adult would view by choice? It may not have been "fair," but it was funny.
All this is a long-winded way of saying that having a vast number of streaming options makes every choice more fraught. There's an increasing sentiment (especially on social media) that if you don't have anything nice to say, you shouldn't say anything at all. But everyone was talking about the Anne Hathaway rom-com The Idea of You, now on Prime Video, so I watched it, and ... I was not pleasantly surprised.
Solène Marchand (Hathaway) is not in the boy-band demographic. She's a nearly 40-year-old divorced gallery owner with a Silver Lake Craftsman house to die for and an acerbic sense of humor. Even her teenage daughter, Izzy (Ella Rubin), has outgrown her interest in dewy-eyed crooners. But Solène's clueless ex has gifted Izzy with a VIP meet and greet at Coachella with the band she was obsessed with in middle school. And that's how our heroine ends up having a meet-cute with tween idol Hayes Campbell (Nicholas Galitzine) after she mistakes his trailer for a public restroom.
Hayes is smitten with this woman 16 years his senior, who's completely unimpressed by his celebrity. He pursues Solène to her gallery — where he buys out her entire stock — and invites her to come on tour with him. Free of parenting duties for the summer, Solène abandons herself to the thrill of a private jet, screaming fans and steamy hotel-room assignations. It's all too good to be true — until the press and social media find out and she has to decide whether the pop star is just a fling or something more.
For many viewers, Solène's story embodies an irresistible fantasy: being swept off your feet by Harry Styles or the like. The Idea of You, directed by Michael Showalter (The Big Sick) and based on Robinne Lee's novel, is far from the first movie to cater to this fantasy — the entire After book and film series is based on One Direction fan fiction. The "rock star romance" trope is a perennial presence on bestseller lists; this is simply the version that comes closest to a traditional, mainstream rom-com.
Does The Idea of You work as pure escapist fantasy? Sure. As a rom-com? Less so. In the absence of colorful supporting characters such as the ones who populate, say, Notting Hill, the "comedy" here consists mostly of the banter between Hayes and Solène, which is fine but not inspired. They have believable chemistry, but they don't have believable problems, or really any problems other than ones stemming from the prejudices of benighted observers. It's clear from their first scene that they belong together, and not even garden-variety relationship hiccups meaningfully disrupt that impression.
Hathaway is the film's greatest asset. Yes, she looks 40 — a healthy, Hollywood, professionally made-up 40 — and her comic timing keeps that banter sizzling. When Solène talks passionately about the bland-looking work in her gallery, you believe she feels that passion. She's sexy, witty, charming and fully alive on screen, and it never hurts to be reminded that none of those qualities has an age limit.
If your priority is watching sparks fly between two pretty people in pretty places, The Idea of You will do fine. But its laugh quotient is low, its suspense is nil, and its plot developments are relentlessly generic. The traditional third-act misunderstanding, for instance, feels shoehorned in rather than arising organically from any preexisting tension.
So, why did I watch it? Because I hoped for more. Rom-coms have been better than this; they can and should be better than this. Let's not give up on them.
Moonstruck (1987; MGM+, Pluto TV, the Roku Channel, Tubi, rentable): The older woman/younger man rom-com premise dates back to this goofy, operatic classic starring Cher, Nicolas Cage and a scene-stealing Olympia Dukakis. It benefits from a screenplay by playwright John Patrick Shanley.
Notting Hill (1999; MGM+, rentable): The fantasy of celebrities falling for normal folks has rarely been done better than in this rom-com rich in dry British humor.
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (2022; Hulu): Solène grapples with society's double standards when it comes to aging and sexuality. So does Emma Thompson's character, a repressed widow who hires a much younger sex worker, in this thoughtful and provocative exploration of the issue. (Caveat: It is not a romance.)