The Idea of You – A Crowd-Pleasing Romcom (Early Review)

The Idea of You is Michael Showalter’s newest romcom and is based on the popular book of the same name. The story centers around Solène (Hathaway) a 40-year-old single mom forced to step in as a chaperone for her teenage daughter Izzy’s (Rubin) trip to the Coachella Music Festival after her ex Daniel (Reid Scott) bails at the last minute. While there, she has a chance encounter with Hayes Campbell (Galitzine) the lead singer of the hottest boy band on the planet; August Moon and has an instant connection with him. As they begin a whirlwind romance, it isn’t long before Hayes’ superstar status poses unavoidable challenges to their relationship and Solène soon discovers that life in the glare of his spotlight might be more than she bargained for. Easily Showalter’s best film since The Big Sick, it is an undeniable crowd pleaser worth a recommendation for anyone who enjoys a good old fashioned romcom.

The film is a charming, heartfelt, and light romcom with way more on its mind than the typical romantic comedy. It is also surprisingly way more mature, sincere, and grounded than what one would expect, especially in its exploration of its central romance and themes. The result is a realistic portrayal of what a relationship under these circumstances and how those circumstances affect one’s family and/or close friends. While it is a funny film, the comedy takes a backseat to the drama and romance which proved to be a smart decision, making it feel classier and more adult in tone. The way Solène is treated over the situation is scarily realistic and will definitely give audiences some food for thought on how real life couples in the public eye are viewed.

Now a film like this would not work at all if they didn’t cast the absolute perfect actors to play Solène and Hayes. Thankfully, this was the case here as Hathaway and Galitzine are a perfect match and just ooze charisma across every scene. They have such a natural chemistry together that one could honestly watch them for hours. Meanwhile, they make for a very cute pairing. There is not a single moment where their romance is not believable thanks to the film’s smart writing and handling of its leads. Though they are both great individually, Hathaway delivers a borderline awards worthy performance. Galitzine, on the other hand, gets better with every role, and he delivers what is easily one of his best performances to date. Showing off even more of his talents, he is a good singer as well.

That being said, there are a few things that hold it back from reaching classic romcom status but they are minor and don’t take away from the experience too much. First of all, the film is a little long, clocking in at nearly 2-hours. Part of this could be attributed to scenes that go on for a bit longer than they needed too, particularly in its first half. It hits a lot of predictable beats to the point that one can pretty much predict every direction the story is about to head in far before it happens. Also, the film could have explored its characters further, mainly Solène’s relationship with Izzy which essentially felt glossed over.

But aside from those aforementioned tiny nitpicks, The Idea of You is a big winner that is not afraid to get audiences to think. A bonafide crowd pleaser, it is a delightful, smart, and heartfelt romcom led by a terrific pair of performances by Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine. Those looking for a good old fashioned romcom will certainly not go wrong with this one.

still courtesy of Prime Video

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Connor Carey

www.connorsmoviereviews.com/