“The Idea of You” Review: A Woman’s Coming-of-Age Story

Classic coming-of-age stories, such as those of the ‘Princess Diaries’ and ‘The Devil Wears Prada’, feature Anne Hathaway as a heroine for a young woman’s transition into adulthood and embracing femininity. Her newest film serves as a similarly satisfying showcase for the actress, with the 40-year-old heroine Soléne Marchand’s coming-of-age story guised under a “charming boy-band fanfic”. 

The actress adds complexity and a deep levity to the hearthrob-laden film, with scenes most poignant in moments of the effortlessly chic art curator’s acknowledgement of lost time meant to be self-invested. Marchand maintains a self-assured yet growth-pursuant nature throughout the film, one to redefine her world by finding comfortability and security in her identity. The manifestation of Soléne’s desire to reclaim the years of her motherhood-filled 20s arrives in the form of Hayes Campbell, the 24-year-old lead of the “so-seventh grade” boy band August Moon. Played with a suave and unimposing maturity by Nicholas Galitizine, the film undoubtedly utilizes Campbell as a vessel for the heroine’s self-discovery, which enables her to develop a love for his ability to revive her youth. Soléne allows herself to be swept up in the idea of him, envisioning a future where her life becomes romanticized with endless pleasures and wishes fulfilled. 

Commentary on the idea and perils of celebrity pervade the film from the moment Hayes Campbell enters the Marchand Collective, which one can imagine Hathaway understands intimately. “Caught a cougar” becomes a headline that erupts the relationship between the pop star and Soléne; their love life becomes a source of fixation and intense scrutiny, heightened by an age gap displeasing to young fans and an unrelenting ex-husband. In a scene in which the heroine walks out of the car to be swarmed by paparazzi on her front lawn, one cannot help but envision Anne Hathaway saying “Calma” to crazed fans after the Valentino Show in Rome. Who she is as a celebrity and decades of experience with the endlessly-flashing lens bring a realness to her portrayal, who becomes a form of celebrity by association with Hayes. Anne Hathaway’s gracious triumph over the impossibilities of stardom gives life to Soléne Marchand and her own liberating reinvention chronicled throughout the film.

And yeah, there’s some catchy boy-band songs, too.  

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