“The Idea of You” Captures the “Idea” of the Novel and Charms in the Process

The Idea of You presents us with a compelling romantic premise: a sophisticated 40-year-old single mother, Soléne, finds herself unexpectedly falling for Hayes, a handsome and kind 24-year-old boy band member.

When we meet Soléne, she’s three years post-divorce with a 16-year-old daughter named Izzy. The story begins when her ex-husband flakes out on taking their daughter to Coachella, where they have tickets for a meet and greet with Hayes’ band. Soléne reluctantly steps in, and through a chance encounter, meets Hayes himself.

What begins as a fling unexpectedly develops into something deeper, complicated by Soléne’s insecurities about their age gap, her fear of judgment, and the intense scrutiny from Hayes’ fans and the tabloids.

The film stars Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine, and I’ll admit it was Hathaway’s involvement that made me give this movie a shot. I went in with fairly low expectations but was pleasantly surprised—enough to watch it multiple times.

Nicholas Galitzine was one of those pleasant surprises; I was previously unaware of him, but he made a strong impression as a talent on the rise. I’ve since watched him in “The Beat Beneath My Feet,” his first film, which I also enjoyed.

While this movie has been categorized as a romantic comedy, I would classify it as a straight-up romance with some light moments. Other than their initial meeting at the bathroom, there isn’t much comedy. The characters laugh and have fun, there’s a snicker-worthy moment here and there, but there’s nothing Hugh Grant or Bridget Jones laugh-out-loud funny.

I’ve tried to keep this review spoiler free, but I do discuss a few specific moments in the film.

What Works Well

The Chemistry

Hathaway and Galitzine have incredible chemistry. This movie is adapted from a book of the same name which contains numerous intimate scenes, but in the film, little of that is explicitly shown. Their passion is revealed through some great kissing scenes that really sell their connection, allowing us to believe their passion for each other without resorting to excessive explicitness. Personally, I love a bit of steam without needing to see every single detail.

Musical Elements

As a music fan, I’m often drawn towards movies with music and band themes. Many music-focused films overdramatize band dynamics (I’m looking right at you, “Daisy Jones & The Six,” although to be fair, band tension was a big part of that story).

I appreciated the restrained approach they took to band scenes, mostly focusing on performances and very little behind-the-scenes band drama. While the original music isn’t groundbreaking, it’s catchy and pleasant, and was believable as something that could be boy band hits.

Character Choices

This movie is adapted from the novel, and by adaptation, I mean it is essentially a complete rewrite. Literally one scene remains intact: the final turning point when she picks up Izzy from school.

The rewrite actually converts the book into following a more traditional romance story arc. So if you read the book and were disappointed by it, you may still want to give this film a chance.

This retelling actually helps the narrative along. The book spends a good deal of time on their meeting up in various locations all over the world over the course of nearly a year, while the movie condenses this part of their relationship to a few minutes of “Happy Montage” as she follows him on tour through Europe over several weeks.

One of the significant changes the movie makes is the decision to make Hayes 24 years old rather than barely 20; they also age the daughter, which helps facilitate the revised ending. These extra few years on him makes their relationship not only more believable and less cringey, but also gives him an extra measure of maturity, which makes the ending feel more plausible.

Where The Film Stumbles

Relationship Development

One shortcoming is we aren’t really given anything that shows their deepening relationship when it is reduced to brief montages across Europe. After their first relationship hurdle is cleared, the second happy phase is told through a series of tabloid headlines and another montage sequence.

The most emotional depth between them happens early on, eating sandwiches in her kitchen and during their first night together when Hayes confesses to her his fear of “being a joke.” Despite Soléne barely knowing him, she looks at him in all seriousness and declares with great conviction that he is not a joke. We needed that scene later in the film to show the increased connection between them.

In the book, she comes to realize the value in the joy his music brings to young girls, but not until much later.

Conflict Believability

I mentioned that the movie follows a more traditional romance plot arc than the book, so it’s not giving anything away to say there are conflicts which threaten to separate them. Twice.

The first separation feels contrived and unconvincing. Even with repeated watchings, I am not really buying what the problem is. She’s gone into this as a physical thing, a bit of fun for however long it lasts, and from what I can tell, she’s upset because she doesn’t feel special anymore—she’s learned that he has a type and has used his “dedicating a song” move on others.

My only other thought is that Oliver is up to no good in the book, so perhaps this is a way of working in that subplot. While the script significantly rewrites the book, when you look closely, there a many places where elements of the book are there, just in different places and in different forms.

The second conflict feels more authentic to Solène’s character as a mother and is a much more compelling reason for anyone to reconsider their relationship, which ultimately makes it more believable and understandable.

Should you Watch It?

Overall, I give “The Idea of You” an 8 out of 10 based on the leads’ incredible chemistry and performances, good dialogue, and a sweet and somewhat sultry romance that brings the heat without too much spice.

Both lead actors really carry this movie, conveying the depth of the connection between them when the dialogue and storytelling fails to do so. Without them, it might have been an ordinary cookie-cutter romance. If we needed any further evidence that Hathaway is an incredible actress, her performance at the kitchen table speaks for itself.

While there are some serious and dramatic relationship moments, overall it is a light feel-good film that satisfies the need to escape the world for just a couple of hours.

If you liked “Pretty Woman,” I felt like this film had similar vibes with two people from different lives initially getting together casually, then it turns into something more, and those differences create some conflict and problems.