There's a special kind of feeling you get when watching a film or a TV show that has quite clearly not been designed for you in mind. It's some combination of ethnographic curiosity mixed with a vague sense of humbling, for it underscores that you (or your demographic) are not, in fact, the only demographic they make films about.
Saved from being complete fluff by Hathaway's warmth and clear commitment to the role, and she makes admirable work of such a piece of featherweight fanfic that's made more satisfactory by being rendered in "Modern Streaming Network Colour Grade Palette #1".
A sort of Notting Hill (1999) crossed with May December (2023) in which Hayes' watch has something of the same symbolic value as the sable coat in Mitchell Leisen's Easy Living (1937). Either way, it's not exactly Harold and Maude (1971). I read somewhere that Hayes is older here (24) than in the original novel, which is not altogether unsurprising.
Equally unsurprising is that I would have loved a lot more about Hayes' behaviour with other women (a subplot gets started but strangely disappears), as well an exploration into how becoming a celebrity at an early age is likely to stunt social development. Needless to say, the film also completely elides all discussion of the disparity in wealth between the two protagonists; whilst clearly affluent, Solène isn't in the same league as Hayes.
The musical segments are always about 25% longer on-screen than I would expect from a movie that essentially only needs to briefly show that he has the chops a couple of times. This gave the suggestion to me that actor playing Hayes was, in fact, a well-known musician outside of the movie as well, reminding me of how the camera lingers on Nick Cave in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007). It turns out that's not the case, so it's an interesting gambit to in some sense 'fabricate' a cameo.
Oh, one last thing: I drink the exact same milk from Whole Foods; that was actually distracting.
The teenybop tracks played throughout the [movie] replicate the catchiness and PG sexiness of 2010s boy band mania. [They] are nothing more than supermarket ambience and nauseating radio replays in the world of August Moon, but for us, the boy band frenzy feels nostalgic and charming.
— Sage Dunlap (Paste Magazine)
The film briefly touches upon issues of misogyny and ageism but only very lightly, Solène’s life is based in almost as much fantasy as that of Hayes (her house is as idyllic as the hotel rooms she’s whisked away to).
— Benjamin Lee (The Guardian)
If this sounds a lot like Notting Hill but with a May-December vibe, it’s because it is. Substitute Hugh Grant’s cute little bookshop for Solène cute little art shop; switch up “film star” for “pop star”; dial back on the whimsy/comedy and double down on the message/sentimentality – all that’s missing is a line of dialogue as timeless as that “girl in front of a boy” one. Therein lies the issue of The Idea of You: it’s stale, a relic from another time that’s strenuously updated and forced into 2024.
— Alex Saveilev (Film Threat)
Principal photography on The Idea of You began in October 2022, which means that Hathaway was 39 when filming started and had likely turned 40 before it ended because her birthday is November 12, 1982
— Brennan Klein & Shawn S. Lealos (Screenrant)
Synopsis: 40-year-old single mom Solène begins an unexpected romance with 24-year-old Hayes Campbell, the lead singer of August Moon, the hottest boy band on the planet. As they begin a whirlwind romance, it isn't long before Hayes' superstar status poses unavoidable challenges to their relationship, and Solène soon discovers that life in the glare of his spotlight might be more than she bargained for.