The Idea of You

Contemporary romances are having a moment. That, or maybe the algorithms have finally found me despite my tinfoil hat. If you aren’t familiar with contemporary romances, they typical star a generically-described girl who meets a sexy, rich, tall, dark-haired man and the couple get together despite every obstacle, rule, or sensible thought. Maybe he travels and the logistics are unreasonable. Maybe their families have a long-standing feud in Verona. Maybe he’s a member of the Russian mafia who’s sworn off relationships because it would put his woman in danger and yet this blonde-ish/brunette-ish school teacher from a small town is so *inexplicably perfect* that he damns his oaths and moral codes in favour of a few more hours staring into her eyes. Honestly, these things write themselves. In an era when social media feeds our guilty pleasures with such nonjudgemental enthusiasm that they hardly feel guilty anymore, it’s the perfect time for a movie like The Idea of You to jump into the mainstream.

Art gallery owner, Solène (Anne Hathaway), is just days from her 40^th birthday. She’s planned a peaceful weekend in the woods while her daughter, Izzy (Ella Rubin), heads to Coachella to see every pre-teen’s favourite boyband, August Moon. Just minutes before Solène’s soul-searching weekend is meant to begin, however, her sleezy ex-husband, Daniel (Reid Scott), changes plans and dumps Izzy on her doorstep, forcing Solène to swap quiet camping for boybands and screaming teenagers. Solène is uncomfortably out of her depth until, as awkwardly as possible, she meets the unfairly handsome Hayes (Nicholas Galitzine) and realizes seconds too late that this calm, cool, and flirty 24-year-old is a boy from the boyband that she and her daughter have VIP tickets to see. Being the mature adult in this situation, Solène brushes the encounter off as a fun story to never tell her colleagues, but Hayes wants to see where the idea of them together might lead.

Spoiler alert, it leads to the bedroom. Solène does a passable job of resisting this smouldering heartthrob’s remarkably smooth moves, but one activity becomes another and honestly, I don’t blame her. You go get it, honey. One sandwich, an out-of-tune piano, and three minutes of steamy contact are all it takes for these beautiful people to fall head over heals. The Idea of You fills its time with typical romantic segments like chasing each other on the beach, restaurants with booth seating, smiling across crowded rooms, and flashes of torn clothing with absolutely no respect for the textile industry. But it doesn’t end there. The 16-year age gap is Solène and Hayes’ biggest mountain to climb – until the paparazzi get involved. The Idea of You keeps a good pace by running segments of bliss interrupted by rude people who hate happiness.

A good chunk of what makes this movie work are, of course, our leading couple. Galitzine brings a solid maturity to Hayes – not to mention looking like the book boyfriend we all pretend not to have. He’s just the right amount of attractive coupled with an unrealistic level of forgiveness. Pulling most of the acting weight, however, is Hathaway. What an excellent casting choice. Hathaway is a drop-dead gorgeous 40-year-old, convincing me from the very start that a charming, hot, crooning pop star could be powerless before her. But she also has a depth that makes heartbreak believable. Anne Hathaway is a romance genre queen and The Idea of You proves that we just can’t get enough of her.

It’s not top-shelf literature with peer reviewers and scholarly sources. So what? Contemporary romances tend to follow a pattern and The Idea of You is no exception. Wars will not be fought over this story, plaques of filming locations will not be laid, tattoos will not be commissioned. But it’s still a great watch. I felt for the characters, I believed in their challenges, and I rooted for a happy ending. If you’re feeling a romance novel but don’t have the time or mental capacity for a real book, The Idea of You is a nice substitute. As contemporary romances go, it’s not a bad choice at 7/10.