A side-by-side comparison of two competing streamer rom-drams featuring a love match between an older, gorgeous woman (non-celeb) and a younger man (celeb).
I finally watched both! The Idea of You wins this one for me. I found it to be the much more enjoyable film with more believable characters and relationships. I really bought into the relationship between Hayes and Solène. A Family Affair started off entertaining, but fizzled in the second half. I felt no chemistry between Zac Efron and Nicole Kidman either, but Efron is just so effortlessly funny.
Great feedback. Hathaway had better chemistry with her lead but I felt Kidman and Efron to be more mature partners. Then again someone had pointed out rightfully so that “A Family Affair” is more a mother-daughter love story (I’d say it could be cross generational with kathy bates too) and the healing power of a mom’s love. I’m biased I suppose but chose this one
This is the discussion I NEED right now, thank you! So, I loved both. Are they cinematic masterpieces, no. But I have long adored rom coms and there’s been such a lack of them over the past many years, or at least watchable ones. And a lot are very unrelateable to me now age wise, so I’m liking this trend of women having hot love affairs post 40.
In terms of the battle, I chose Idea of You because I think it’s more rewatchable in a strict rom com sense. Like I could put it on now before bed and happily watch it again without really paying attention. I think Family Affair was probably the better movie overall, with more complex characters and relationships beyond just the love story. But I’m less likely to watch it purely for a cozy comfort flick, which is usually what I want in my rom coms.
Thanks Stephanie for the thoughts here. I’m so glad you enjoyed the post!! I’m also enjoying rom-drams featuring female leads over 40 and depicted as still in the their prime. Hallelujah.
So interesting you pick “The Idea of You” but based on rewatch criteria I could see myself more likely rewatching this one too. “The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society” I’ve watched now a few times and I can’t get enough of the historical romance.
Stephanie - I look it up every time I write it down. I always get it wrong. This time I wrote, "The Guernsey Secret Potato Society" first! It's so good!!
It was hard to pick between the two films because there were things I liked and disliked in both of them (I ended up going with The Idea of You).
You’re right, the mother daughter relationship was much more fleshed out in A Family Affair. Plus in The Idea of You, I thought mother and daughter looked more like sisters. But then again, I thought A Family Affair was more of a mother/daughter film anyway because it was the daughter’s story (shout out to Joey King) as much as it was a romance between older woman and younger man story.
I believed the chemistry more between Solène and Hayes. As a pure romcom, I think I liked the idea of you more.
Thanks Ingrid! The comment about “A Family Affair” being more about mother-daughter relationship, agreed. I’d also argue it’s more about the village of female relationships in general. Think about Kidman’s mother-in-law and King’s best friend. The men are there but the emotional depth rests with the ladies. A minor plot thing that bugs me in these films is how the female lead absorbs the weight of her romantic decisions with such a martyr like approach. Solene saying “5 years” and Kidman’s back story about her dead husband being jealous of her success and problems in the marriage. Both felt unnecessary. I guess yes, we want complexity but we don’t need it to be about the woman shouldering that burden all the time. That said, highly enjoyable and yes the chemistry between Hayes and Solene is off the charts though again can they break wind in front of one another? I think not.
Thank you!! It was inspiration I derived from a few sources: 1) Morgan Dick’s latest post on book recommendations. She integrated these beautiful fluid mood setting banners (for lack of a better word) stating in a creative way what the book category was and it got my brain activated 2) My daughter sees me working hours on end on posts and said to me after watching “A family affair”, “What if you do something shorter? Like a mini review that can’t be longer than a few paragraphs for smaller films or shows,” and it got me thinking of doing something different and finally when I took this thought to my husband he said, “ooh what if you did a face -off!” Anyway, this long explanation is to illustrate the evolution of an idea and how much we gain from others weighing in
Thanks for the mention, Beth! I hope you’ll enjoy Just Like A Movie. Did you read The Idea of You? Although the concept is the same as my book it’s not a comedy. And Emilio is older than the pop star in Lee’s book. I’ve not seen A Family Affair yet; I’ll probably watch it even if it’s not memorable; sometimes we just need a candy bar… thanks so much for the mention 💕
Thanks Francesca! I haven’t read “The Idea of You,” but yeah the movie was also a drama and not a comedy hence the rom-dram assignation but I’ll say that most rom-com stuff feels more dram to me! Go for the candy bar. You won’t be disappointed. Kidman really is quite effective. There’s a quality about her and the emotional maturity and care she resonates (that transcends the screen)that makes me want to be her friend 😂 but also maybe she’s just a really good actress
I finally watched both! The Idea of You wins this one for me. I found it to be the much more enjoyable film with more believable characters and relationships. I really bought into the relationship between Hayes and Solène. A Family Affair started off entertaining, but fizzled in the second half. I felt no chemistry between Zac Efron and Nicole Kidman either, but Efron is just so effortlessly funny.
Great feedback. Hathaway had better chemistry with her lead but I felt Kidman and Efron to be more mature partners. Then again someone had pointed out rightfully so that “A Family Affair” is more a mother-daughter love story (I’d say it could be cross generational with kathy bates too) and the healing power of a mom’s love. I’m biased I suppose but chose this one
This is the discussion I NEED right now, thank you! So, I loved both. Are they cinematic masterpieces, no. But I have long adored rom coms and there’s been such a lack of them over the past many years, or at least watchable ones. And a lot are very unrelateable to me now age wise, so I’m liking this trend of women having hot love affairs post 40.
In terms of the battle, I chose Idea of You because I think it’s more rewatchable in a strict rom com sense. Like I could put it on now before bed and happily watch it again without really paying attention. I think Family Affair was probably the better movie overall, with more complex characters and relationships beyond just the love story. But I’m less likely to watch it purely for a cozy comfort flick, which is usually what I want in my rom coms.
Thanks Stephanie for the thoughts here. I’m so glad you enjoyed the post!! I’m also enjoying rom-drams featuring female leads over 40 and depicted as still in the their prime. Hallelujah.
So interesting you pick “The Idea of You” but based on rewatch criteria I could see myself more likely rewatching this one too. “The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society” I’ve watched now a few times and I can’t get enough of the historical romance.
Oooh have never heard of that but just Googled. What a mouthful!
Stephanie - I look it up every time I write it down. I always get it wrong. This time I wrote, "The Guernsey Secret Potato Society" first! It's so good!!
A Family Affair is a cinematic masterpiece compared to The Idea of You, in which we were supposed to find the making of a sandwich sexy 🥪
I agree!! Thanks Haley!
Nice. The mood boards are a good format for the face off.
Thanks for the feedback!! And the weighing in on the face off path
Thank you so much for the mention!!!
I love the way you structured this comparison!
It was hard to pick between the two films because there were things I liked and disliked in both of them (I ended up going with The Idea of You).
You’re right, the mother daughter relationship was much more fleshed out in A Family Affair. Plus in The Idea of You, I thought mother and daughter looked more like sisters. But then again, I thought A Family Affair was more of a mother/daughter film anyway because it was the daughter’s story (shout out to Joey King) as much as it was a romance between older woman and younger man story.
I believed the chemistry more between Solène and Hayes. As a pure romcom, I think I liked the idea of you more.
Thanks Ingrid! The comment about “A Family Affair” being more about mother-daughter relationship, agreed. I’d also argue it’s more about the village of female relationships in general. Think about Kidman’s mother-in-law and King’s best friend. The men are there but the emotional depth rests with the ladies. A minor plot thing that bugs me in these films is how the female lead absorbs the weight of her romantic decisions with such a martyr like approach. Solene saying “5 years” and Kidman’s back story about her dead husband being jealous of her success and problems in the marriage. Both felt unnecessary. I guess yes, we want complexity but we don’t need it to be about the woman shouldering that burden all the time. That said, highly enjoyable and yes the chemistry between Hayes and Solene is off the charts though again can they break wind in front of one another? I think not.
Yes on both points! Haha on the break wind!! Also the line "you're not Jack and Rose" had me chuckling. Loved that line!
I think there’s a whole generation that missed that wink to “Titanic” but not the ones currently watching
By the way, I love how you did all the mood boards for this! So cool!
Thank you!! It was inspiration I derived from a few sources: 1) Morgan Dick’s latest post on book recommendations. She integrated these beautiful fluid mood setting banners (for lack of a better word) stating in a creative way what the book category was and it got my brain activated 2) My daughter sees me working hours on end on posts and said to me after watching “A family affair”, “What if you do something shorter? Like a mini review that can’t be longer than a few paragraphs for smaller films or shows,” and it got me thinking of doing something different and finally when I took this thought to my husband he said, “ooh what if you did a face -off!” Anyway, this long explanation is to illustrate the evolution of an idea and how much we gain from others weighing in
Thanks for the mention, Beth! I hope you’ll enjoy Just Like A Movie. Did you read The Idea of You? Although the concept is the same as my book it’s not a comedy. And Emilio is older than the pop star in Lee’s book. I’ve not seen A Family Affair yet; I’ll probably watch it even if it’s not memorable; sometimes we just need a candy bar… thanks so much for the mention 💕
Thanks Francesca! I haven’t read “The Idea of You,” but yeah the movie was also a drama and not a comedy hence the rom-dram assignation but I’ll say that most rom-com stuff feels more dram to me! Go for the candy bar. You won’t be disappointed. Kidman really is quite effective. There’s a quality about her and the emotional maturity and care she resonates (that transcends the screen)that makes me want to be her friend 😂 but also maybe she’s just a really good actress