Watch TrailerThe Idea of You Movie Review: The summer is officially here and brings with it not only mangoes but a string of summer love stories. And this year, the season of summer romances has been kicked off by Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine. The actors star in the breezy romantic drama titled The Idea of You. Based on a book of the same name by Robinne Lee, The Idea of You packs in all the elements of a summer love affair.
As the trailer has already revealed, The Idea of You revolves around around a single mom Solène (Anne), who is also an art curator, who heads to Coachella to accompany her daughter at an August Moon concert. Blissfully unaware about the group, she enters one of the members’ vanity van accidentally and meets Hayes Campbell (Nicolas). Sparks fly all over the van and before you know it, Solène and Hayes start flirting and he even drops by at her gallery to meet her.
Things start steaming up when the duo share a kiss at Solène’s home and he offers her to join him in the group’s Europe tour. Hesitant at first, Solène surrenders to her heart and the duo get into a steamy, secret love affair. However, things take a heartbreaking turn when their relationship leaks in the media and Solène along with her family are subjected to trolling.
Set to release on Amazon Prime Video, The Idea of You, serves as a breezy and welcomed watch. Director Michael Showalter knows that he’s got two hot people on screen and two characters who don’t really ‘need’ a partner in life but don’t mind a companion. The filmmaker plays on this dynamics to give us one of the hottest couples of this year. Their love story feels like a dream that leaves you smiling when you wake up.
Although it scores high on the romance, The Idea of You falls short in the subplots. The film shows Solène’s daughter, played by Ella Rubin, playing a vital part in the film. But the writing doesn’t let her take the forefront when it is needed. This affects the blow of the final twist. I also wish the director would have included a few more scenes of the band performances. It would have added a little more flavour to the musical base of the story. Nevertheless, the musical moments composed by Siddhartha Khosla is sweet to the ears.
While the writing did feel uneven in the second half, Anne and Nicholas’ sizzling chemistry overshadowed the flaws and how! Anne reminded us what a brilliant actress she is in every scene. She shines throughout the film, beautifully shouldering it. Despite such a powerful performer like Anne, Nicholas also holds his own. Nicholas’ character arc paved the way for him to perform. Together, Anne and Nicholas set the screen on fire. Also, credits to Jim Frohna who captures their chemistry well in the film.
Bottom line: The Idea of You is a perfect Saturday night watch with a tub of ice cream on a girls’ night or a date night.
