The Idea of You: Even Anne Hathaway Can't Save It

Even before the release of the movie “The Idea of You,” I have been tuning in to updates about it to a fault. Behind-the-scenes photos, posters, and trailers... social media kept pushing more and more relevant content my way as I eagerly scrolled through all of them and was completely lit up. Can you imagine a 40-odd-year-old single mom going out with a 25-year-old boy (yes, boy), who happens to be a band idol? And although her real age matches her character’s, the heroine, Anne Hathaway, still manifests pristine beauty onscreen—it seems like she is exceptionally favored by time. I watched the movie as soon as it came out, and I couldn't help but marvel at how she was born for romantic comedies. As long as she wants to, and with the right script, she can keep starring in them indefinitely (In this regard, I’ve mentioned before that Lindsay Lohan’s team should learn to pick out befitting screenplays for her).

However, I must say, the movie turned out to be terrible. I dragged my friend along to watch it with me, but about 10 to 20 minutes in, I had to apologize and tell her to busy herself with something else (that’s the advantage of watching movies on streaming platforms).

I completely understand the film's focus on Solène Marchand (played by Hathaway), highlighting the societal scrutiny, stereotypes, and expectations weighing down on her due to her relationship. But it completely neglects the male lead’s perspective. Considering that Hayes Campbell (played by Nicholas Galitzine) is a phenomenally well-known young idol with a huge teenage fanbase, online gossip about him is inevitable. People will speculate about his supposed Oedipus complex, and generate and circulate memes to mock him for it; yet the movie barely touches on this. Instead, the female lead takes all the heat. Maybe the script aims to reflect reality, where women are easier targets of harsh judgments compared to men, but shouldn't it also show Hayes' struggles and defiance? After all, this is a love story, and love stories are best when both sides are equally invested in each other. Can you imagine Romeo, faced with his family’s opposition, simply hiding at home and insisting that things will work out between him and Juliet even though he doesn't know how to achieve that?

If “The Idea of You” was about a female star and her much younger admirer, this issue might not be so glaring. Plus, Hathaway actually gives off way stronger big star vibes than Galitzine.

The male lead, who supposedly holds the more scene-stealing role, is utterly unappealing. I couldn’t help but think of “Notting Hill,” a film from over twenty years ago, about a female movie star and a humble male bookstore owner. As the story unfolds, we see that Julia Roberts’ character is not shallow or hollow; she is not only dazzlingly beautiful but also genuine and vivid. But in “The Idea of You,” what is there to discover about the boy idol? The more we scrutinize him through the camera lens, the more we see that he’s an art-illiterate who doesn’t truly love his job, and a nouveau riche who snags all the works in Solène’s art gallery on a whim. And five years later (yes, the screenwriter resorts to a lazy plot device of time skip to address unresolvable dramatic conflicts), his good looks are replaced with puffy eyes and a stubble.

At times, I wonder if the problem lies with the movie itself or if the reality the show is inspired by is a complete mess. Creating a likable, compelling woman isn’t difficult, even if she’s a single mother in her forties. But crafting an equally outstanding man is hard. The reality is that men who don’t smoke, drink, gamble, or womanize, have no criminal record, a stable job, and cooking skills, and are hygienic, responsible, open-minded, and amiable (if they even truly exist) are considered exceptional, while women with these qualities are everywhere.

So it's not surprising that I find the movie's discussion of feminism laughable. When Solène’s daughter asks if Hayes is a feminist after learning about their relationship and finds out that the answer is yes, she says that he has her support. My goodness, have our standards for good men been reduced simply to mere labels? Feminism has become a trendy badge for men to attract women, which is an insult to its very notion.

I won’t deny that “The Idea of You” is the kind of film we need despite its undesirability. After all, there have been countless stories of older men falling for younger women in the history of romance films, but movies where the woman is older are rare. However, it is not easy to make the latter meaningful, and “The Idea of You” has failed at it (or maybe it didn’t have such an ambitious goal to begin with, and perhaps this very lackadaisical attitude led to its many shortcomings). When watching such movies, as a woman approaching thirty, I hope to see the profound wisdom and insights of a 40-year-old woman, as well as her command over life. Of course, she will encounter problems typical for her age, but she won’t handle them like a young girl; her accumulated life experience won’t leave her entirely passive. Yet in the film, Solène just keeps compromising with her ex-husband, daughter, society—essentially all external pressures. Even her job at the art gallery, like the art pieces displayed inside, is merely a superficial setup.

Another interesting point is that the film tries to mirror Hathaway’s experience as a celebrity, especially the period when she experienced internet shaming, with the key line “people hate happy women.” But after watching the whole film, I think people actually don't hate happy women; they just hate women who are idiotically foolish, do not grow wiser, or rather, are inauthentic.

This is the overall impression the film gives: everything feels fake, except for Hathaway’s stunning beauty, which is undeniably real.