Film Review: THE IDEA OF YOU (2024): An Anne Hathaway Romantic Dramedy with Sweet Moments and a Sense of Predictability

The Idea of You Review

The Idea of You (2024) Film Review, a movie directed by Michael Showalter, written by Robinne Lee, Jennifer Westfeldt and Michael Showalter and starring Anne Hathaway, Nicholas Galitzine, Ella Rubin, Annie Mumolo, Reid Scott, Perry Mattfeld, Jordan Aaron Hall, Mathilda Gianopoulos, Meg Millidge, Cheech Manohar, Raymond Cham Jr., Viktor White, Dakota Adan, Roxy Rivera, Graham Norton, Grace Junot and Jon Levine.

The Idea of You is director Michael Showalter’s sweet dramedy that would probably be the talk of Hollywood if the ages (or sexes) of the film’s stars were reversed. It’s about a 40-year old woman who romances a younger man in his 20’s. Still, the film could have been pretty controversial if Showalter didn’t play it safer than was expected. If Miller’s Girl showed an older man romancing a much younger woman, it did so with no real sophistication. The Idea of You has a bit of elegance to it but not a lot. Still, that elegance is the movie’s saving grace. Most of the charm of the movie comes from Anne Hathaway’s performance as a 40-year old mom, Solène, who falls in love with a much younger member of a boy band named Hayes (Nicholas Galitzine). Showalter’s movie often falters in its execution but because of Hathaway’s dedication, it saves face a bit even with its open-ended conclusion.

Solène works at an art gallery and, in one scene, Hayes tries to buy a lot of the recent artwork she is selling. But, Solène gets mad because her gallery’s particular artists’ work is special and Hayes seems to be buying it just to get into Solène’s heart (or something like that). Hathaway’s character’s profession offers her some flexibility to get involved with Hayes and the plot has a lot of conveniences that make things that happen seem a bit too easy. Things move too quickly here, for sure, but at least the movie’s not boring.  

There are a lot of problems with The Idea of You but, luckily, the movie doesn’t immediately simmer into a conventional romance. It does eventually become predictable, though, when the paparazzi take pictures of new lovers, Solène and Hayes, and try to spin news stories off their romantic connection. What could have been a personal conflict of a 40-year old woman falling in love with a younger man becomes a movie in which Solène’s feelings seem to be influenced more by the paparazzi than her own emotions. Maybe, the 20-something year-old Hayes shouldn’t have been a superstar. If he was an average successful guy, the movie could have worked just as well, if not better.

There’s also the matter of the scene where Hayes’s young friends “enlighten” Solène with the information that Hayes typically flirts with women at concerts and that his initial admiration for Solène may have been somewhat fabricated. It seems Hayes liked her but he exaggerated his emotions to get to know her better. Then, when Hayes falls for Solène, it is later on and the feelings become real but it’s too late. The damage has been done.

The best scenes of The Idea of You are between Solène and her daughter, Izzy (Ella Rubin), who is a fan of Hayes’s but gets mad when Solène goes behind her back and engages in the romance without telling Izzy. Rubin has a lot of heart which is integrated nicely in her performance and the scenes between Rubin and Hathaway are quite entertaining and moving.

Director Showalter goes for the sappy emotions that a romantic comedy/drama typically tries to portray. Anne Hathaway is in top form, playing a woman with a lot of youthful qualities who is kept young by her daughter and finds in Hayes a guy with whom she can connect with. Galitzine is good but he’s not up to Hathaway’s level. There are a few young actors that could successfully pull the role of Hayes off but to Galitzine’s credit, he doesn’t seem implausible in the role. Thankfully, Hathaway’s youthful qualities are intact making the romance easy to embrace and not the least bit cringe-worthy by the end.

That being said, Showalter’s light-as-air movie doesn’t offer the audience any resolve to its complicated story line. Of course, not. One of the participants in the romance of the film is just a guy in his 20’s. If you believe the ending here, you may be the target audience for the film. In real life, the story wouldn’t have had such a romanticized conclusion but for a romantic dramedy starring The Princess Diaries alumni, Hathaway, perhaps a little bit of lovey-dovey is just what the doctor ordered for a pleasant day’s movie viewing.

The Idea of You is nothing less than an entertaining romance where things may or may not work out the way one would expect. However, the emotions one will feel during the course of the movie are somewhat predictable. If one wants to laugh, cry and everything in between, see The Idea of You but once it’s over, the movie won’t stay too long in one’s memory. It’s romantic Hollywood programming with Hathaway elevating it to a bit more than your standard romance.

Rating: 6.5/10

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