I thoroughly enjoyed watching “The Idea of You.” But was it a good movie? Absolutely not. Imagine if Harry Styles fell in love with someone’s mom — that’s the premise.
Released on Amazon Prime Video on May 2 to much anticipation for its star-studded cast. The film involves a substantial age gap between Anne Hathaway’s character, a 39-year-old mother, and a young member of a boy band, played by Nicholas Galitzine, whom she woos at his Coachella performance.
The movie is also based on the novel by Robinne Lee, “The Idea of You.” The book reads like Harry Styles fan fiction, as does this movie.
Other Harry Styles fan fiction adaptations include the “After” series films, which, might I add, were horrible. So, I didn’t expect much from this movie due to the fan-fiction nature of it.
This movie is not the best thing I have ever watched. The dialogue is awful and cringe, the plot is predictable, and the score is a cheesy afterthought. Some moments in the movie were hilarious — but I was laughing at them, not with them.
However, this movie’s driving force is the romance between the two main characters. They have undeniable chemistry and — come on; it’s Anne Hathaway.
I also enjoyed following a romance with a slightly older woman versus the typical 20-something girl who doesn’t have her life together. Seeing romance from a different perspective was refreshing.
Hathaway’s character was awkward at times, but also assertive and confident. Often, I find that women in romance movies come off as nervous or insecure, but I appreciate how this movie portrays her character.
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The romance between the main characters was also surprisingly cute. I didn’t expect to be rooting for this romance despite their around 20-year age gap, but their plot took us through many fun moments throughout the movie.
Galitzine’s rockstar character, Hayes Campbell, brought out a goofy side of the romance.
While some aspects are cringeworthy — especially the age gap — the movie is overall enjoyable. I could see myself loving this movie and watching it with my friends for years to come.
All in all, I will be watching “The Idea of You” again despite it not being a quality movie. It’s fun, it’s cute, and it’s all a basic romantic comedy needs to be: funny and romantic.