In this adaptation of Robinne Lee’s novel, the Oscar winner plays a recently divorced mother who falls in love with an international pop star.

The Idea of You, the new romantic comedy from Michael Showalter (The Big Sick), begins like many of the best in its genre: a meet-cute so silly it endears. 

With bladder relief comes company. Solene, still oblivious to her surroundings, runs into Hayes Campbell (Nicholas Galitzine of Red, White & Royal Blue), the lead singer of none other than August Moon. She wonders if he is some ASMR creep and he informs her that she is in his personal trailer. Some banter and a few jokes later, Solene is smiling to herself as she leaves a smitten Hayes to his glam squad. 

Most of the film’s charm comes from Hathaway. The Oscar-winning actress’ character is a mother torn between the established order of her life — running her art gallery, fostering a relationship with her daughter, healing from Daniel cheating on her — and the risk of a relationship with Hayes. Hathaway brings an attractive humor and surprising depth to Solene as she leaps into the unknown terrain of a new romance. 

Hathaway’s character (and the film overall) are much stronger in the first half, when Solene and Hayes are getting to know each other. These scenes in the gallery, where he pays her a visit after their Coachella encounter, and later during lunch in her home have a level of detail that give the relationship a real sense of life. It’s here that Galitzine’s portrayal of a pop star feels more like a person than a vessel for Solene’s mid-life coming-of-age questions. (In an impressive touch, the actor sings most of the songs in the film, which were written by Savan Kotecha.) These moments also capitalize on the chemistry between the two leads, which, despite Showalter’s steamiest efforts, often plays as more tender than make-you-blush erotic. 

In Showalter’s adaptation, Izzy, Solene’s daughter, is older. At 16, the teenager’s obsession with August Moon has been tempered by an interest in badass female singer-songwriters. This tweaks the stakes of the narrative, which no longer has to be about a mother trying to protect her daughter. But Showalter’s screenplay, which he wrote with Jennifer Westfeldt, doesn’t fully take advantage of the space that makes to further explore Solene’s interiority. The more time the pop star and the single mother spend together, the fewer details there are about who they are as individuals. Their conversations start to stagnate, grow blander, often revolving around the “should we” or “should we not” nature of their romance.