’The Idea of You’

Saccharine sweet rom com as divorced 40 year old finds herself involved in a serious love affair with the lead singer of British boyband August Moon.

With her husband having walked out for a woman almost half his age, Solène (Anne Hathaway) immerses herself in work and teenage daughter Izzy (Ella Rubin). Attending a music festival with Izzy and her friends, a brief, flirtatious encounter with Hayes (Nicholas Galitzine) results in Solène being tracked down to her Silver Lake gallery by the singer – as well as the ever attendant paparazzi. As their affair snowballs, Solène’s life is turned upside down by Hayes’ superstar status: the challenges of constant attention and age-shaming may be too much for her and Izzy.

It’s cute and superficially addresses the reversal of older man/younger woman midlife crisis trope. Hathaway equips herself well in the role but a little more overall bite would have provided depth to the narrative’s exploration without necessarily deflecting from the rom com template. But The Idea of You is better than anticipated.

Rating: 53%

Director: Michael Showalter (The Eyes of Tammy Faye, The Big Sick)

Writer: Michael Showalter (Hello, My Name is Doris, TV’s Search Party), Jennifer Westfeldt (Kissing Jessica Stein, Friends With Kids) – based on the novel by Robinne Lee

Main cast: Anne Hathaway (Les Misérables, Rachel Getting Married), Nicholas Galitzine (Red, White & Royal Blue, Bottoms), Ella Rubin (The Rewrite, TV’s The Chair)

‘Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga’

A longstanding (since the late 1960s) love/hate relationship with the Eurovision Song Contest certainly prepared me for this particular feature! Although director David Dobkin focuses on the more entertaining presentation of recent years. The result is tacky, corny, nonsense, fun, stupid, silly, derivative, political – but presented with immense heart and with Iceland at its core.

Dastardly deeds see the derided pop duo Fire Saga represent the country in Edinburgh. It’s been the lifelong dream of both Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams ever since they saw ABBA win the competition for Sweden. But the film evolves more into a tacky rom-com as the I’m not gay Russian competitor Dan Stevens creates a wedge between the singing duo.

A great deal more miss than hit (although there’s a couple of catchy tunes in there – watch out for Sweden’s entry!) with silliness replacing satire. And there’s the rub – the Eurovision itself usually offers more fun and weirdness.

Nominated for best original song Oscar in 2021.

Rating: 42%

Director: David Dobkin (The Judge, Fred Claus)

Writer: Will Ferrell (Anchorman, Talladega Nights), Harper Steele (TV’s Saturday Night Live, Funny or Die Presents...)

Main cast: Will Ferrell (Anchorman, Downhill), Rachel McAdams (Sherlock Holmes, Spotlight), Dan Stevens (Marshall, TV’s Downton Abbey)

‘Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie’

One of the best TV comedy series: ever. One of the worst transfers to the big screen: ever.

Edwina (Jennifer Saunders) and Patsy (Joanna Lumley) are two of the most recognisable characters ever written for TV – the Bollinger-from-the-bottle guzzling Patsy in particular. Their travails through the fashion world are legendary. Their move to the big screen is not.

‘Borrow as much as possible from the TV series’ only works if its funny. And Ab Fab The Movie ain’t. The first funny joke arrived after some 20-25 minutes, the second 10 or so minutes later. And that was about it. So Edwina has been accused of pushing super model Kate Moss to her death, forcing her and Patsy to flee to Cannes. Who cares?

An unmitigated disaster.

Rating: 10%

Director: Mandie Fletcher (My So Called Life Sentence, TV’s Absolutely Fabulous)

Writer: Jennifer Saunders (TV’s Absolutely Fabulous, French & Saunders)

Main cast: Jennifer Saunders (Spice World, Fanny & Elvis), Joanna Lumley (The Wolf of Wall Street, She’s Funny That Way), Julia Sawalha (The Final Curtain, Venus & Mars)