Hathaway, a rockin’ single mom, doesn’t need a boyfriend, much less a boy band obsession to satisfy her girlfriend. But her on-and-off romance with Nicholas Galitzine’s smitten pop star feels like something out of her time.
When you’re 10 years old, every phrase your favorite boy band sings sounds like it’s aimed directly at you. Somewhere along the way, the illusion is shattered. Teenagers are smarter than we give them credit for and eventually understand how parasocial relationships work. Basically, the fans do all the work, save up concert tickets and draw the idol’s name in a notebook with glitter, while the lab-tested singer absorbs all the love and pocket money. . But what if feelings don’t flow in one direction, and a pop star falls hard in love with one of his followers? Or her mom?
An instant classic, The Idea of You, an improvement on the popular Beach read by Robin Lee, stars a luminous yet relatable Anne Hathaway as the kind of woman a celebrity would fall for. It seems like just yesterday that the brown-eyed genius was wearing a tiara on The Princess Diaries. Now, in her most romantic role since her live-action fairy tale, Hathaway plays Solene, a 40-year-old divorcee who owns an art gallery in Silver Lake and has always put her daughter first. When her ever-disappointing ex-husband (Reid Scott) falls ill on a trip to Coachella, Solene steps in and takes Izzy (Ella Rubin) and her friends to the music festival.
Dad bought all the VIP passes to meet-and-greets with August Moon, the band Izzy was obsessed with when she was in seventh grade (emphasis: it used to be that way). Now that she’s in high school, the quintet just seems corny. This is the same opinion that parents have always had, but somehow had to put aside to support their children. So imagine Solene’s surprise when she goes in search of a honey bucket and comes face to face with “The Englishman” Hayes Campbell (Nicholas Galitzine). Solene recognizes him, but she’s not overly excited about it, and something about that dynamic excites him. Here are some women he might actually have to make some effort to get to know.
It’s easy to see why Lee’s hugely successful novel reads like Harry Styles fan fiction, but there’s more to it than celebrity wish-fulfillment. Adapted by director Michael Showalter (The Big Sick) and co-screenwriter Jennifer Westfeldt, The Idea of You draws on the princess story aspect of the book, namely the famous celebrity in the title. , they seem to be less interested in the self-justifying aspect. We also address the implications of such relationships for middle-aged women. After dedicating her song to Solene at her Coachella show, Hayes became more circumspect about her invitations, allowing Solene to keep it a secret from her daughter. But what if Izzy finds out? What do August Moon’s millions of fans think of him courting a cougar?
Miraculously, the audience doesn’t question it. The meet-cute seems a bit contrived, but the dynamic between Hathaway and Galitzine meshes right away. She suggests that she can’t bring herself to cheat because Solene has had previous experiences with her love life, her signals that she is losing faith in her love life. is subtly conveyed. Galitzine plays a character who takes an immediate interest in Hayes but is emotionally cautious. Watching the two open up to each other over an afternoon of art shopping back in Los Angeles proves to be far more romantic than the whirlwind European tour that follows. Surprisingly, the sexiest scene in the entire movie isn’t sex, but a hungry first kiss. However, it appears to have plenty of traction in the scenes of ransacking hotel rooms in Barcelona, Rome, and Paris.
In a sense, the eponymous “Thoughts of You” is an aspect of the relationship that Solene naively thinks she can keep to herself, despite the vulture-like ways in which the paparazzi follow her everywhere. is pointing to. Showalter takes us inside the pop star’s inner circle, taking her camera backstage at concerts, on private jets, and on glamorous vacations in the south of France. (Strangely, the reverse shot of the crowd at the arena show looks completely tame, a far cry from the maniacal hysteria of “A Hard Day’s Night” or “TRL.”) Celebrities belong to the public in a way they have never experienced before. She doesn’t want any of that attention, their love might as well have no future.
That’s one aspect of the book that leaves readers unsettled, and Showalter has carefully redesigned it here to allow the audience to have the ending they want. Despite its fantastical nature, the film is realistic in that it anticipates social media and real-life media (at least online tabloids) reactions to the news that Solene and Hayes are together. be. The sad truth, as Solene tells her best friend in the art world, Tracy (Annie Mumolo), is that the world doesn’t want her to be happy. Strictly speaking, fans don’t want Hayes to be happy either, preferring to think of him as single and looking for them to fill the empty space in his heart.
There are a thousand ways Showalter could lean his film into parody. Rather, he resists poking fun at the whole Pop-Tart phenomenon, which was treated as self-conscious satire in meta-comedies like Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping and Josie and the Pussycats. . Here Hayes is afraid of being taken as a joke, and although Solene insists that she is not, he does not take this relationship seriously enough to tell Soul. But Showalter turned to songwriter Savant Koteka to create plausible hits, including the song “Closer,” which turned the May-December dynamic into catchy Top 40 gold. produced many. Adapting Lee’s novel presented many challenges, but getting the music just right was the most difficult. Fixing the ending was a close second.
The film version finds a solution that respects Lee’s intentions. It’s the way Hathaway’s character puts his priorities before his own heart, but it also gives their on-and-off relationship a more satisfying sense of closure. Galitzine, who performed the song brilliantly on Amazon’s “Red, White and Royal Blue,” channels his emo charisma while relaxing his body language, letting his puppy dog eyes and tattooed torso speak for themselves. (although the English accent is fine). ). Still, this is Hathaway’s movie, and she owns it. It is independent, desirable, and never hopeless. Solene is a cool mom to Izzy, but when it comes to Hayes… “I can be your mom,” she tells him. “But you’re not,” he retorted. You don’t want to get the wrong idea.
