The author of The Idea of You novel, Robinne Lee is fed up with hearing the name Harry Styles. “It’s very frustrating,” she admitted over Zoom referring to how frequently Harry Styles’ name is bought during the discussion of her bestselling book that revolves around an older woman falling in love with a young British boyband star.
“In the beginning, I thought it was interesting, but it’s taken on a life of its own. I’m like, come on guys! What happened to the 22 other men I used to make this character? It feels very reductive,” Lee went on to say.
The buzz surrounding Lee’s 2017 novel, which has been adapted into a film streaming on Prime Video this week starring Anne Hathaway, illustrates the point both the author and actor are trying to make. The Idea of You appears to be a typical story about an ordinary person falling in love with a celebrity, a pop culture trope immortalized by Richard Curtis’s classic rom-com Notting Hill, as well as films like Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! And Music and Lyrics.
On the other hand, since the lead character is a single mother in the book, Robinne Lee shifts her genre and presents a work that is less concerned with celebrity culture and more focused on female sexuality, motherhood, and misogyny.
Robinne Lee talks about ageism in her book and how its different from the film
Author Robinne Lee says that the book was inspired by turning 40 and noticing how differently she was being perceived. Lee goes into detail about women being viewed as a gender who is going downslope whereas when men turn 40, they continue to gain prestige and power.
Ironically, it’s funny how a book about women has become associated with one man in particular. Lee says that we tend to dismiss women after they reach a certain age and therefore she wanted to challenge the narrative and turn it around.
However, the film’s adaptation looks like a lot more fun with The Independent’s Clarisse Loughrey praising it for striking a nice balance between wholesome and sultry. This movie breathes new life into the supposedly deceased rom-com genre. It features steamy sex scenes in hotel suites, adorable childlike dance sequences, and acerbic one-liners with an added bite, such as “People hate happy women.” Aside from the ending, the movie remains largely faithful to the book. said Loughey.
Plot of the film The Idea Of You
The Idea of You offers a nice, heartwarming take on modern-day love, and follows the life of a 40-year-old single mother, Solène Marchand (Anne Hathaway), who ignites an unexpected romance with this man named Hayes Campbell (Nicholas Galitzine), the 24-year-old lead singer of a boy band named August Moon.
However, their newly found romantic love story quickly encounters turbulence and comes with challenges as Hayes’ celebrity status casts a shadow over their relationship, revealing to Solène the daunting realities of life as a celebrity and the downside of being in the spotlight.
Under the direction of Michael Showalter, the film is a joint production of Cathy Schulman, Gabrielle Union, Anne Hathaway, Robinne Lee, Eric Hayes, Michael Showalter, and Jordana Mollick.
In addition to Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine in the leading roles, this romantic drama also features Ella Rubin, Annie Mumolo, Reid Scott, Perry Mattfeld, Jordan Aaron Hall, Mathilda Gianopoulos, Raymond Cham Jr., Jaiden Anthony, Viktor White, and Dakota Adan in key roles.
The film is currently streaming on Amazon Prime to watch.
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