By Nell Geraets
A massive global celebrity walks into the shop of a seemingly put-together but slightly scattered, and definitely emotionally unfulfilled person. Despite each occupying entirely different worlds, they hit it off. A whirlwind love affair ensues, until relentless paparazzi threaten to ruin it.
Sound familiar? That’s because it’s the plot of iconic 1999 rom-com, Notting Hill. It also happens to be the story of Amazon Prime’s latest offering, The Idea of You, starring Anne Hathaway. While the former follows a famous woman pursuing an everyday bloke (as everyday as Hugh Grant can be), the latter sees a famous man (Nicholas Galitzine) pursuing an everyday woman (Anne Hathaway) – one who happens to be 16 years his senior.
It might sound like sacrilege to compare one of the best rom-coms of all time with a straight-to-streaming movie that is based on a book once rumoured to have been inspired by Harry Styles fan-fiction. But regardless of its somewhat pulpy background, The Idea of You manages to hold its own. Vanity Fair’s film critic, Richard Lawson, described it as “premium grade fanfic” that deserved a bigger screen release. It’s also attracting an audience: As of Friday, less than 24 hours after its release, it became the second-most watched program on Amazon Prime Video in Australia.
Nicholas Galitzine and Anne Hathaway have great chemistry in this “reverse Notting Hill” rom-com.Credit: Amazon Prime
In the film Hathaway plays Solène, a 40-year-old art gallerist in Los Angeles still recovering from the emotional wounds inflicted by her ex-husband’s infidelity. She finds herself reluctantly chaperoning her daughter at Coachella, where she bumps into 24-year-old Hayes, one of the cherub-faced members of popular boy band August Moon (an obvious One Direction stand in)
The rest is textbook rom-com: a sultry love affair begins, one in which they (haphazardly) try to keep secret from the world. But after being papped in a Parisian restaurant, their relationship goes viral, Solène becomes the victim of an online witch-hunt, and their love begins to fracture.
Unlike other recent rom-coms, like the Sydney Sweeney sleeper hit Anyone But You, this plot oozes fantasy. It offers every kind of viewer a chance to ponder their own “what ifs” to the backdrop of two frustratingly attractive people giving in to forbidden love.
You may find yourself zoning out the dialogue to simply watch Hathaway and Galitzine stare into each other’s eyes, perhaps even envisioning yourself replacing one of them, and that’s ok – you’re still appreciating the essence of the film.
What ultimately makes the fantasy so convincing is its leading lady. Let’s face it, Hathaway did not have to deliver an Oscar-worthy performance for a film like this, yet she does. She is sure-footed when delivering comedic lines and plays the “genuinely cool mother” role as convincingly as she played Miranda Priestly’s fish-out-of-water assistant.
However, it’s her vulnerability that makes her truly shine. When sharing the details of her separation, or when grappling between her desire to be a good mother and a care-free girlfriend – these moments are what separate The Idea of You from more surface-level rom-coms (think Netflix’s Your Place or Mine or Holidate), those that are predominantly designed for gags rather than meaning.
Emotionally and ethically complex dilemmas lie at the heart of this story: the hypocrisy behind demonising a woman for dating a younger man while men dating younger women is generally normalised; generational disconnects; the trauma of divorce and “re-starting” life at middle-age. Yet while the movie broaches these ideas, it ultimately settles for the more comfortable and less cerebral space that has come to define rom-coms in the streaming era.
“Did I not warn you? People hate happy women,” Solène’s friend says at one point. It’s an apt observation, but the scene simply cuts immediately afterwards, leaving viewers no time to process the heft of such a statement. Points for trying, though.
Maybe that’s the point of rom-coms. They can allude to more profound issues, but never dive in. Ultimately, the film is a fantasy – just like Notting Hill. We turn to the genre for escapism, for comfort, for a feeling of the familiar. It’s nice to think about things, but not too hard. That risks snapping us out of the reverie.
In finding that balance The Idea of You has hit a sweet spot between quality, intelligence and fantasy that audiences are clearly craving in an era of overwhelming mediocrity.
The Idea of You is available to stream on Amazon Prime.
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