“The Idea of You” review: Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine smolder in age-gap romance

Hathaway and Galitzine bring the sexy novel to life in an adaptation guaranteed to leave audiences satisfied.

The Idea of You is Skittles-infused vodka in movie form.

That is to say that it has a candy-pop appeal that will have viewers tossing it back as if there’s no tomorrow, only to then be walloped by its adult substance.

Based on the novel of the same name by Robinne Lee, the film (out now on Prime Video) follows Anne Hathaway's art dealer Solène, newly turned 40, and her unlikely romance with 24-year-old boy bander, Hayes Campbell (Nicholas Galitzine). When Solène takes her daughter, Izzy (Ella Rubin), to Coachella, she accidentally ends up in Hayes’ trailer (good luck to anyone with a VIP pass who thinks they can it), striking up a connection with the hunky Brit. But when he shows up at her Los Angeles art gallery the next week and buys everything in it, he makes clear his intentions to take things beyond a cheeky mid-show wink.

Soon, Solène is falling headlong into his world, jet-setting to New York and around the world while Izzy is at summer camp. But their fragile relationship can only withstand the pressures of the outside world for so long.

Plenty have judged The Idea of You before even seeing it, labeling it Harry Styles fan fiction with a derisive snort. It’s true that Hayes and Harry have much in common, including their penchant for tattoos and heartthrob status. And unless you live under a rock, it’s impossible to miss the winking nods to One Direction (though kudos to director Michael Showalter for delivering a fictional boy band who can dance better than the real McCoy). But both the text and the performances are far more nuanced and emotional than the implications of those who use such a label.

Yes, The Idea of You is a hell of a lot of fun, a soapy May-December romance about a getting-her-groove-back suburban mom and a guy a few years removed from the cover of Tiger Beat. It luxuriates in itself, be it the genuinely catchy bops that Hayes' band August Moon performs or stolen kisses on private beaches. August Moon and Hayes Campbell are constructed with more care than some actual bands and music artists today, their music videos and Coachella set meticulously choreographed and executed.

But exuberant playfulness does not rob something of meaning, and thankfully, that's something Showalter (Search Party, Spoiler Alert), his co-writer Jennifer Westfeldt (Kissing Jessica Stein), and the cast understand.

Hathaway is radiant, the earnest, twinkling energy that endeared her to audiences with her debut in The Princess Diaries returning full throttle, with the bumps and bruises of age and experience offering richer colors and deeper shades. It’s not difficult to see why any man, age 24 or 54, would be immediately charmed by her. Her wide movie star smile barely conceals the sincere, try-hard energy that both set her on an early path to success and led to years of undeserved internet scorn and abuse.

In Hathaway’s hands, Solène is a softer, crunchier version than the woman on the page, trading her Range Rover and Malibu pad for a Subaru and craftsman-style home in Silver Lake. Her romance with Hayes is every bit as sweeping and taboo as it is on the page, perhaps even more so given that Hayes’ world of private jets, Tag Heuer watches, and vacation homes in the South of France is so far from Solène’s own. This is also part of Showalter’s deft touch as a director — his spaces always feel lived-in and true, as if one could walk into this character’s house or art gallery tomorrow. Hathaway’s Solène is relatable, rather than aspirational.

She is truly living a fantasy with Hayes, one that is complicated by her age and awareness that she’ll be judged and dissected for daring to fall for a younger man. Hathaway perfectly threads the needle, vacillating between the intoxicating allure of her romance with Hayes and the harsher cost of such a relationship.

In some ways, Solène is an opportunity for Hathaway to address the misogyny she’s faced in her career — to dig into a role that is about a woman embracing her sexuality and her joy at an age where she is expected to fade into the background. With Solène, Hathaway proclaims her ownership over her body, her career choices, and her refusal to let others steal her joy.

Galitzine is the ideal costar, his cut-glass cheekbones and sleepy eyes the epitome of boy band beauty. Still, it is Galitzine’s more soulful side, the inquisitive intelligence in his acting choices that makes his Hayes so enchanting. He’s both enigmatic and familiar, someone who feels capable of deeply vulnerable conversations while remaining unknowable. When Hayes does open up to Solène and show her parts of himself the world will never know, he’s at his most irresistible. There’s some of Harry Styles’ impishness in his choices, but by and large, he makes Hayes entirely his own.

Nowadays, we rarely mint new movie stars, but Galitzine could break that mold. Between this, Red, White & Royal Blue, George & Mary, and Bottoms, Galitzine is on the cusp of something big — and at the very least, he’s proved himself a curious and agile actor.

Not the least because his chemistry with his costars feels so effortless. He and Hathaway positively crackle together, from his slow, crooked grin when they first meet to the way she tugs on his bottom lip in their first kiss. Galitzine knows how to touch someone for maximum effect, the gentle-but-firm cupping of Hathaway’s jaw and the smooth caress of her hips.

The intimacy here is palpable and genuinely sexy, something sorely absent in many of today’s screen romances. Showalter’s direction grants the film an eroticism without ever showing us more than a hint of bare bottom. This is what critics mean when they yearn for movies to be sexy again; the erotic is not in exposed skin but in the brush of fingers, a meaningful glance, or the arch of a throat in the throes of ecstasy.

The film’s one misstep comes in its central conflict. While the tabloids still expose Solène and Hayes, labeling her a cougar and installing cameras outside her house, the whole thing feels rather toothless. Most of it plays out in dizzying montage and is dispensed with quickly. But the ways in which the press invade Solène’s life should feel life-destroying. The off-hand comments of high school mean girls have more of an impact on Solène than the invasiveness that comes with dating a global superstar.

While its meant to emphasize that Solène makes choices to protect her daughter, it also muddies the impact of this romance on her inner life. Her decisions feel more rooted in matriarchal sacrifice than anything else, which minimizes her choice to protect not just her family, but also herself. The Idea of You understands that sometimes heartbreak is the cost of something brief and beautiful, but the novel does a better job of allowing Solène to arrive at that decision on her own terms.

Still, this is a minor quibble for a movie that is otherwise a delight of the highest order. It’s clear those behind The Idea of You hold a genuine affection and care for the story, rather than the ironic eye that a book like this could so easily invite from a lesser team.

The Idea of You is a coming-of-middle-age tale and an earnest, cathartic love letter to unexpected connection and throwing social pressure to the wind in pursuit of something real. We may have fallen in love with the idea of this movie, but blissfully, the reality is even better. Grade: B+

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• Anne Hathaway says her 'toxic identity' online cost her roles after Oscar win, until Christopher Nolan stepped in

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