“The Idea of You,” a “Notting Hill” riff starring Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine, and now streaming on Amazon Prime, is a rom com, that emphasizes the romance over the comedy.
Hathaway is Solène, a forty-year-old Silverlake gallery owner and single mother to Izzy (Ella Rubin). Still stinging from her husband’s infidelity (Reid Scott) and the end of her marriage, when we first meet her she is planning some quiet time, alone on a camping trip.
“What if all I need are my artists, my gallery and my friends?” she asks.
Her planned solitude is disrupted when her ex, who bought Izzy VIP Coachella tickets to a meet-and-greet with boy band August Moon, is called away on business. Pressed into becoming a chaperone, Solène has a backstage meet cute—a case of mistaken VIP bathroom identity—with the boy band’s 24-year-old lead singer Hayes Campbell (Galitzine).
Sparks fly, and later, during August Moon’s set of anthemic boy band power pop, Hayes dedicates a song to her. “I know you’re a little bit older,” he sings, “but I want to get closer to you.”
Despite their age gap—”I’m too old for you,” she says. “I could be your mom.”—romance blossoms. Each have trust issues, but quickly bond and before you can say the words generation gap three times, he invites her to go on tour with the band.
The glow of their whirlwind romance is soon dimmed as the echo effect of his celebrity reverberates around Solène and her daughter, and, because this is a rom com the couple has to break up to make up.
“The Idea of You” reveals its rom com DNA early on. It leans toward the romance over comedy, stressing the relationship ups-and-=downs over everything else, but it follows the tried-and-true formula to a “t.”
So, not many surprises, but there are many laughs sprinkled throughout, and the chemistry between Hathaway and Galitzine keeps the well-worn journey interesting. Hathaway brings vulnerability, warmth, wit and charisma to a character who reluctantly falls head-over-heels for Hayes. Galitzine oozes charm, and is a credible enough boy band star, but takes pains to make Hayes more than a teen dream heartthrob. Screenwriter Jennifer Westfeldt gives him plenty of room to infuse the character with the same kind of insecurities—“That’s my greatest fear,” he says, “that I’m a joke.”—and desires that plague people who don’t decorate the covers of glam magazines.
It’s the spark between the two leads, along with a strong supporting cast, that elevate “The Idea of You” from formulaic rom com to a romantic good time.
A mix-and-match of “American Pie” and “Fight Club,” the new comedy “Bottoms,” starring “The Bear’s” Ayo Edebiri and “Shiva Baby’s” Rachel Sennot, and now playing in theatres, is a boisterous queer high school sex romp with an edge.
Edebiri and Sennot are Josie and PJ, best friends and high school outsiders desperate to catch the attention of cheerleaders Isabel (Havana Rose Liu), who also happens to be the girlfriend of the school’s star quarterback Jeff (Nicholas Galitzine), and Brittany (Kaia Gerber).
Ignored by the cool kids—there’s a rumor going around that they spent the summer in a juvenile-detention center—Josie and PJ form a plan to get cozy with their crushes. “We are literally at the bottom,” says PJ. “We have nowhere to go but up.” When the news breaks that a female student was assaulted by a rival football team member, they form a fight club.
“So, we teach a bunch of girls how to defend themselves,” says PJ. “They’ll be grateful. Next thing you know, Isabel and Brittany are kissing us on the mouths!”
Of course, an outlandish plan like this has outlandish and unexpected repercussions when a show of solidarity goes one step too far.
Unapologetically rowdy and rambunctious, but also cheerfully sweet and sensitive, “Bottoms” one of the funniest and bloodiest stories about the anarchy of adolescence to hit screens since “Heathers.” It follows high school movie tropes right out of the John Hughes handbook, but subverts each and every one of them to create something unexpected.
The idea of creating a fight club as a way to get girlfriends may be far out, but the premise is brought back to earth by Josie and PJ and their very understandable motivations. They want what every teenager wants; to be part of the crowd, to be popular and to have a special someone. In that context, “Bottoms” emulates many other teen comedies. Add some broken noses and bloodied lips and you get an off kilter, but genuine, look at life in the halls and classrooms of most every high school.
At the heart of it all are Edebiri and Sennot. Three years ago they starred in a Comedy Central digital series titled “Ayo and Rachel Are Single,” and their chemistry remains intact. Sennot (who co-wrote the script with director Emma Seligman) is brash and bold, mining the material for all its absurdity. Edebiri is more deadpan, a gentler presence who seems aware of the absurdity of the situation.
For all its bravado, attitude and heightened humor, “Bottoms” is a remarkably insightful and introspective look at high school and female friendship. That it is also an unruly good time just adds to its quirky charm.
The new “Cinderella,” starring pop singer Camila Cabello and now streaming on Amazon Prime, begins with a sweeping crane shot of the title character’s rustic village that could have been lifted from any one of the dozens of adaptations of the famous story. But by the time the villagers begin dancing to Janet Jackson’s “Rhythm Nation,” tossing pitchforks of hay in the air and doing the Robot in time with the music, you realize this isn’t your fairy godmother’s version of the oft told tale.
The story’s bones are roughly the same as the Brothers Grimm folk tale. Orphan Ella, nicknamed Cinderella (Cabello) by her jealous stepsisters (Maddie Baillio and Charlotte Spencer) because her skin is often besmirched by cinders, dreams of one day travelling the world as a famous designer. For now, though, she lives in the dingy basement of her cruel and imperious step-mother Vivian’s (Idina Menzel) home, where she waits on them hand and foot, only to be called “worthless” and dismissed by a wave of Vivian’s hand.
The Royal Ball is imminent, and Prince Robert’s (Nicholas Galitzine) father King Rowan (Pierce Brosnan) thinks it is the perfect chance for his son to find a wife and settle down. When the prince catches an eyeful of Cinderella he is smitten before she disappears into the crowd. “I’ll play your silly game,” he tells the King, “but only if every girl in the kingdom is invited to the ball regardless of wealth or stature.” The king reluctantly agrees, and everyone is invited, even Cinderella. Except that she’s not interested. “The whole thing is weird and antiquated,” she says. “Not my thing.”
She changes her mind when the Prince, in disguise, convinces her that there will be interesting people there, and she might even drum up some business as a designer. But she doesn’t believe anything romantic will come out of it. “I’m dirty,” she says. “I smell like a basement and my best friends are mice.”
She whips up a frilly pink dress for the big night, but Vivian puts her foot down, and throws ink on the outfit, ruining it and Cinderella’s chances for going to the ball. She is despondent until Fab G (Billy Porter), her Fairy Godparent, enters her life in the most red-carpet-ready way possible.
“Hush, it’s magic time,” Fab G says as a sequined dress, glass slippers and a fancy carriage materialize. There are rules. No one, except the Prince, will be able to recognize her while she’s in the gown and the magic will wear off at midnight, so she must run home as the clock strikes.
Sparks fly between the Prince and Cinderella. He professes his love for her and says he intends on making her his princess. She’ll be royalty. “Royalty?” she says, channeling her inner Meghan, “What about my work?” As she is announced as the future Queen, the clock strikes and she flees, leaving behind one glass slipper.
“Cinderella” is a big Broadway style jukebox musical of the familiar tale given a thoroughly modern makeover. Written and directed by former “30 Rock” writer Kay Cannon, who also created the “Pitch Perfect” franchise, updates the story to emphasize female empowerment, the autonomy of fathers and sons, the freedom to choose one’s life and she evens softens up the traditionally evil step family. It is still a classic love story, but here Cinderella is no Disney Princess. She’s Girlboss Cinderella, in charge of her life, love and future.
The modifications are presented with sincerity and no small amount of humour—there’s even a pretty funny reference to Brosnan’s legendarily terrible singing voice, first noticed by, well, everyone in “Mama Mia”—but the changes also make it fairly simple to predict what’s going to happen, even if Cannon tries to distract you with big production numbers.
Gone are the old school Disney songs like “A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes” and “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo.” They’ve been replaced with reinterpreted pop and rock songs like “Material Girl” and “Somebody to Love.” Think “A Knight’s Tale,” the 2001 fantasy that mixed-and-matched modern music and dancing with a medieval setting.
“Cinderella” is a frothy, enjoyable confection that often resembles a music video. Cabello’s take on the character breathes the same air as Moana, “Brave’s” feisty Merida, and Elsa and Anna from “Frozen.” Purists may miss the old songs or traditional blue dress, but stories about women as active participants in their lives should become the new tradition.
