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If “Notting Hill” and “How Stella Acquired Her Groove Again” had a child, it will look one thing like “The Thought of You,” a Might-August romantic pairing of Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine. Properly performed by the leads, this story of a 40-year-old lady swept off her toes by a 20-something boy-band star quantities to enjoying the style’s hits whereas following all the identical outdated steps.
Destined for Amazon, it’s a reliable date-night or gals’-night film for many who don’t wish to go away the home – Chardonnay non-compulsory, however beneficial – which makes sensible sense, touchdown because it does in a center floor that has struggled on the field workplace.
Cheated on and left by her husband, Soléne (Hathaway) is a profitable art-gallery proprietor who will get roped on the last-minute into squiring her teenage daughter and the child’s pals to Coachella, the place her ex has bought a meet-and-greet expertise with the members of August Moon, whose following would possibly lean extra towards the tween crowd.
A reluctant attendee, Soléne has the final word meet-cute second with band member Hayes (Galitzine, of “Mary & George” and “Red, White & Royal Blue” renown), stumbling into his trailer considering it’s the restroom.
After some awkward banter and apparent chemistry – which with the good thing about hindsight is about pretty much as good because the film will get – Hayes exhibits up unexpectedly (by her, that’s) at Soléne’s gallery, telling her shyly, “I really feel like I don’t meet folks such as you fairly often.”
For a pop star, he’s an endearingly delicate soul, which doesn’t do a lot to quell her reticence, due each to their age hole and his fame.
Romance and problems ensue, with writer-director Michael Showalter (“The Big Sick” and “Spoiler Alert,” sharing script credit score with Jennifer Westfeldt) adapting Robinne Lee’s novel partially by counting on the customary montages to deal with a number of the heavy lifting. If solely the garnishes have been rather less drained, together with the prying paparazzi and Reid Scott as Soléne’s no-right-to-be-bent-out-of-shape ex.
All that actually leaves, then, is the interaction between Hathaway and Galitzine, with the latter (starring in his second Amazon film in a yr’s time a few romance sophisticated by fame) performing double obligation on the songs. The issue is nevertheless nicely they may work by way of rooting for them as a pair, it’s onerous to keep away from the very actual difficulty that the world he inhabits and certainly folks basically could be fairly awful.
“The Thought of You” will doubtless be most satisfying for many who select to not sweat the small print, having fun with the surroundings and fantasy wrapped up in it. Consider it as a type of films that actually reinforces the adage there aren’t any new concepts, simply recent variations of outdated ones set to totally different beats.
“The Thought of You” premieres Might 2 on Amazon’s Prime Video. It’s rated R.