The parallels between ‘The Idea of You’ and ‘Notting Hill’
Because I have the time to write something so insanely specific this bank holiday weekend.
!This contains spoilers for both movies!
I’m currently on my second watch-through of ‘The Idea of You’ - the latest Harry Styles fan-fiction based on the popular novel of the same name by American author Robinne Lee. Starring Anne Hathaway (who looks amazing and makes me want to cut bangs immediately) and Nicholas Galitzine (who could possibly have chemistry with a broomstick) the movie is a steamy, albeit poorly acted, slightly cringe two-hour viewing with limited moments that make me want to turn it off - apart from the playful slap on the face in New York and the excruciatingly long on-stage performances to some of the worst music I’ve ever heard.
I will of course subject myself to seeing this at least 10 more times.
Anne Hathaway’s character ‘Solène’ is a stylish, 40-year-old divorced mother who runs a small art gallery in Silver Lake and though unable to fix her fridge, is frequently seen wearing a pair of $500 Celine sunglasses (her priorities are right) and lives in a $3 million home - or so a TikTok video tells me. Nicholas Galitzine plays ‘Hayes Campbell’ the 24-year-old love interest/Harry Styles of the movie who’s a member of the five-person boy band August Moon (aka One Direction). He’s young, reckless, passionate and dresses really well. She’s concerned, reserved, jaded from love and just wanted to go on a solo camping trip before all this happened.
I’ve seen Notting Hill let’s say 50 times, and I watch it at least six times a year. It transcends seasons and I strongly believe it is one of the greatest romance films ever made. It’s Hugh Grant living some sad, tortured existence as divorcee ‘Will Thacker’ (“a strange half-life” as he puts it) in West London, running a travel book store and sharing his life with a housemate. Then you have megastar actor Julia Roberts playing megastar actor ‘Anna Scott’ who sweeps into West London with her Chanel Beret and platform Vans and wins over not only ‘Will’ but his friends and little sister in the process too.
“I'm also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her”
It’s written by Richard Curtis who has ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’, ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’, ‘Love Actually’ and ‘About Time’ to his name so if you’re not in tears by the end of ‘Notting Hill’ when ‘She’ by Elvis Costello plays then you’re doing this genre of Britsh romance cinema wrong.
“Dominic... if you'd like to ask your question again?”
“Yes. Anna, how long are you intending to stay here in Britain?”
PAUSE
“Indefinitely”
This movie is raw emotion, with the cast saying classic lines like ‘bugger fuck’ and ‘whoopsie daisy’ and ‘millions down the drain’ (which I repeat to this day when I mess something up). It’s painfully awkward incredibleness, shots of London, having dinner with friends, walking past the Ritz. It’s sitting on a bench and hoping to one day have a gold plate dedicated to your relationship in that very spot.
During my second watch of ‘The Idea of You’, and with my movie critic Rotten Tomatoes hat on, I started to notice some pretty clear similarities between the aforementioned movie and my beloved ‘Notting Hill’.
Before I get into the extensive list of how the movies are alike, I wanted to talk about the glaring difference in that ‘The Idea of You’ is very obviously about an age gap relationship, specifically between an older woman and a younger man which you don’t typically see all that often. ‘The Idea of You’ also explores the pressure of such a high-profile relationship on ‘Solène’s’ daughter and her previous partner, whereas, in Notting Hill, neither person has a dependent and you never see ‘Will’s’ ex-wife.
Now, for the parallels (in no particular order but I have tried to make it align with the flow of each movie to show how the stories correlate).
We have two British and American relationships,
‘Hayes Campbell’ is British, as is ‘Will Thacker’
‘Solène’ is American, as is ‘Anna Scott’
One person is famous, one isn’t !!!!!!!!!!
One has to come to terms with the other’s fame and decide if it’s how they can live life. We see the impact of fame on those who aren’t accustomed to it in both movies.
‘Solène’ receives an unjust and pretty grim amount of online harassment about the age gap in her relationship with ‘Hayes’.
The press discovers ‘Anna’ hiding at ‘Will’s’ West London home after images of her get leaked to the press “Newspapers last forever. I'll regret this forever”. She leaves after that.
The ‘I run a small, unassuming store somewhere’ narrative that each more famous person in the dynamic turns up to unannounced
‘Solène’ has her art gallery which ‘Hayes’ buys everything from as his bodyguard waits outside
‘Will Thacker’ runs his travel bookstore that ‘Anna’ stumbles into when she’s trying to be incognito.
They all meet unconventionally and randomly (because a mega-famous person wouldn’t just go on a dating app, they also didn’t have social media in 1999).
They kiss very quickly (or it feels quick in the movie considering they’re famous - do famous people sign NDAs for stuff like this?)
‘Solène’ and ‘Hayes’ kiss the second time they meet.
‘Anna’ and ‘Will’ kiss on the same day they meet.
The famous person in the dynamic invites the other person places with little consideration for the other’s timetable - which I guess is due to their own the-go life?
‘Hayes’ asks ‘Solène’ to travel to Europe with him on their third meeting in New York - and with little resistance ‘Solène’ is free to leave her daughter (who is at camp) and job back in America (???)
‘Anna’ invites ‘Will’ to meet her at the Ritz, where he lands in a huge press interview with other journalists and he must pretend he’s from the Horse and Hound.
The famous person in the dynamic has done something dubious with an ex/past flame
‘Hayes’ dedicated a specific song at a concert to a girl and then did the same for ‘Solène’ - his bandmates call it ‘his move’.
‘Anna’ had Alec Baldwin in her BEDROOM at the Ritz and pretends ‘Will’ is a servant - jail, unforgivable.
Both couples break up as a result of the press despite trying to make it work.
The famous person in the dynamic sends the other person the art piece they like or talked about when the relationship is semi-over. It’s also wrapped in brown paper in both movies. This was one of the biggest parallels for me, maybe it’s a romantic gesture among rich people I don’t know.
‘Hayes’ sends ‘Solène’ some GOD AWFUL painting by a local artist that makes her feel “everything”
‘Anna’ sends ‘Will’ the Chagall piece “Happiness isn't happiness without a violin playing goat”
There’s a fair amount of back and forth until they get together.
They reunite in a lovely, cinematic way in the last moments of both movies when you’ve LOST ALL HOPE.
I think that about covers it.
Until the next one,
Lory x