Superficial, contrived, and suffering from poor storytelling (and even worse chemistry between the cast), “The Idea of You” fails to deliver on multiple fronts. From uninteresting characters to forced dialogue, this lackluster film from director Michael Showalter struggles with a mediocre story (adapted from Robinne Lee‘s 2017 novel of the same name) and poor execution overall. This is an inferior movie that falls short of achieving any semblance of charm or romance, and nothing about it worked for me.
After agreeing to chaperone her teenage daughter’s (Ella Rubin) trip to Coachella, 40-year-old single mom Solène (Anne Hathaway) begins an unexpected romance with Hayes (Nicholas Galitzine), the 24-year-old lead singer of the hottest boy band on the planet. The pair hit it off instantly, which leads to a whirlwind love affair. It doesn’t take long for Solène to realize that the superstar status of her new beau may be shining a spotlight on her life that she isn’t prepared to handle.
One of the film’s major drawbacks is that the protagonist is uninteresting and uninspired, and she is so cliched that it makes the story play like parody of a romantic comedy. Behold: she owns a contemporary art gallery in Silverlake! She has a unique name! She’s a “cool” mom! Hathaway isn’t the most likeable actor to begin with, but all of her flaws are amplified here. She even makes the opening meet cute feel superficial and contrived, making it difficult to invest in her character or root for her romantic endeavors.
Hathaway and Galitzine are like oil and vinegar on screen, and they simply don’t work together. They lack any real chemistry or believability, and their romance feels phony and unconvincing. This isn’t a relationship between star-crossed lovers or soul mates. There simply isn’t any spark because these two characters don’t belong together. What’s fun about watching that?
Adding insult to injury is the script (adapted for the screen by Showalter and Jennifer Westfeldt), which features forced dialogue that adds to the inauthentic, disconnected experience. Solène’s relationship with Hayes is presented as being something that’s totally salacious to her friends and family, but their age difference is not that great (especially when you consider this is a modern love story). The only thing that feels realistic here is how Solène’s daughter has her normal life disrupted by her mom’s romance and the emotional toll this realization takes on both women. The rest of this story is phony and bogus (not to mention painfully unfunny).
Whenever he needs to stretch the film’s runtime, Showalter makes the unwise decision to showcase overly long, pointless musical performance scenes that are aimed at showcasing the mediocre original songs. These scenes are too plentiful and not only disrupt the flow of the story, but also fail to add any depth or meaning to the narrative.
In the end, “The Idea of You” falls flat and fails to deliver on its promise of a contemporary love story. It struggles to find its footing and ultimately fails because it lacks the charm, humor, and romance needed to succeed in the genre.
By: Louisa Moore
Screen Zealots 