There are a few hundred things about this premise that might be farfetched, including the odds of finding love anywhere near the porta johns of a music festival. But one of them is not that a young star like Hayes Campbell would fall for a single mom like Solène .

Solène is stylish, unimpressed by Hayes’ celebrity and has bangs so perfect they look genetically modified. And, most importantly, she’s Anne Hathaway. In the power dynamics of “The Idea of You,” Hayes may be a fictional pop star but Hathaway is a very real movie star. And you don’t forget it for a moment in Michael Showalter’s lightly appealing showcase of the actor at her resplendent best.

“The Idea of You,” which debuts Thursday on Prime Video, is full of all the kinds of contradictions that can make a rom-com work. The highly glamorous, megawatt-smiling Hathaway is playing a down-to-earth nobody. The showbiz veteran in the movie is played by Galitzine, a less well-known but up-and-coming British actor whose performance in the movie is quite authentic. And even though the whole scenario is undeniably a glossy high-concept Hollywood fairy tale, Showalter gives it enough texture that “The Idea of You” comes off more natural and sincere than you’d expect.

The only thing that really needs to make perfect sense in a movie like “The Idea of You” is the chemistry. The film, penned by Showalter and Jennifer Westfeldt from Robinne Lee’s bestseller, takes its time in the early scenes between Solène and Hayes — first at Coachella, then when he stops by her gallery — allowing their rapport to build convincingly, and giving each actor plenty of time to smolder.

Once the steamy hotel-room encounters come in “The Idea of You,” the movie has, if not swept you away, then at least ushered you along on a European trip of sex and room service. At the same time, it stays faithful to its central mission of celebrating middle-aged womanhood. The relationship will eventually cause a social media firestorm, but its main pressure point is whether Solène can stick with Hayes after her ex-husband cheated on her. This is a fairy tale she deserves.

While Showalter has long showed a great gift for juggling comedy and drama at once, “The Idea of You” leans more fully into wish-fulfillment romance. That can leave less to sustain the film, which has notably neutered some of the things that distinguished the book.

The May-December romance has been shrunk a little. In the book, the singer is 20. Given that Galitzine is 29 and the 41-year-old Hathaway is no one’s idea of old, this is more like a July-September relationship. In the book, the daughter is a huge admirer of the pop singer, adding to the awkwardness, but in the movie, August Moon is “so 7th grade” to her.

There are surely more interesting and funnier places “The Idea of You” could have gone. But Hathaway and Galitzine are a good enough match that, for a couple hours, it’s easy to forget.

But the most convincing thing about “The Idea of You”? August Moon. The movie nails the look and sound of boy bands so well because it went straight to the source. The original songs in the film are by Savan Kotecha and Carl Falk, the producer-songwriters of, among other pop hits, “What Makes You Beautiful,” One Direction’s debut single.

That connection will probably only further the sense that “The Idea of You” is very nearly “The Idea of Harry Styles.” The filmmakers have distanced the movie from any real-life resemblances. But one thing is for sure: With August Moon following 4Town of “Turning Red” , we are living in the golden age of the fictional boy band.

“The Idea of You,” an Amazon MGM Studios release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for some language and sexual content. Running time: 115 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.

2/5 stars

When I heard that Alex Garland was making a film about a new American civil war to be released in the middle of an extremely contentious election year, I was hyped. The idea seemed more daring and provocative than we have seen in quite some time. Sadly, Civil War lacks any real courage and Garland remains frustratingly “apolitical” with a story that should be inherently political. The result is a thrilling but shallow action movie with little to say with its fascinating premise beyond the tired old cliche that “war is hell.”

Set in a near future in which the United States has devolved into warring factions, we follow photojournalist Lee Smith (Kirsten Dunst) who is traveling with several other journalists to interview the nebulously tyrannical president (Nick Offerman) before the “Western Forces,” a combined alliance between Texas and California, attack Washington D.C.

The film remains steadfast in its refusal to explain any of the factors involved in this conflict. Who are the Western Forces and what do they want? What has the president done to bring about a full-on civil war? Garland doesn’t even bother to ask these questions, failing to give audiences a sense of urgency. There is also some striking imagery reminiscent of footage from Vietnam and Bosnia. Seeing these images played out on American soil feels like they should be ripe for analysis, but there is no message behind them. The film says nothing about modern warfare or even photojournalism and only leaves us with sheer spectacle. The timid approach to politics gives us a film that feels like it wants to be The Battle of Algiers but becomes White House Down.

Written and directed by Alex Garland // Starring Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Jefferson White, Nelson Lee, Evan Lai, Vince Pisani, Justin James Boykin, Jess Matney, Greg Hill, Edmund Donovan, Sonoya Mizuno, Nick Offerman, and Jesse Plemons // 109 minutes // A24 // Rated R

NEW YORK (OSV News) – “We’re in the Nazi killing business, and cousin, business is a-boomin’” blithely declares Brad Pitt’s character, U.S. Army officer Lt. Aldo Raine, in the 2009 film “Inglourious Basterds.” The same might be said by the core cast of the fact-based World War II action comedy “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” (Lionsgate).

Director and co-writer Guy Ritchie’s adaptation of Damien Lewis’ 2014 history “Churchill’s Secret Warriors” showcases some clever ruses and innovative, spur-of-the-moment thinking on the part of the U.K.’s Special Operations Executive (SOE). But the mission on which the main characters embark also involves the enthusiastic slaughter of extras by the dozen.

Thus, while the educational nature of the story might otherwise make it valuable fare for older teens, the morally dubious gusto with which Hitler’s minions are dispatched renders this dramatization safest for grown-ups. Even many of them may not care for scenes in which throats are slashed and, in one case at least, a human heart extracted from its owner’s chest.

With Britain facing defeat in the Battle of the Atlantic in 1942, the SOE’s Brigadier Colin Gubbins (Cary Elwes) turns to a seemingly unlikely ally, Maj. Gus March-Phillipps (Henry Cavill), for help. Just how unusual their partnership is can be gauged from the fact that, when we first see March-Phillipps, he’s a prisoner in handcuffs, presumably fresh from the clink.

At Gubbins’ behest, March-Phillipps assembles a team of special operatives to strike a decisive blow at German naval power. Their goal is to sink an Italian warship, presently anchored in a neutral African port, whose cargo is vital to the continued success of the Nazi regime’s rampaging U-boats.

Among those March-Phillipps enlists for this mission are hulking Dane Anders Lassen (Alan Ritchson), wily Irishman Henry Hayes (Hero Fiennes Tiffin) and expert saboteur Geoffrey Appleyard (Alex Pettyfer). As the action kicks off, Appleyard is in German captivity. But this, of course, proves no stumbling block for the resourceful March-Phillipps.

The crew’s on shore agents include saloon owner Mr. Heron (Babs Olusanmokun) and fetching Marjorie Stewart (Eiza González) who’s been posing as a New York-based gold merchant to grab the attention of black marketeering local Nazi commander Heinrich Luhr (Til Schweiger). As Stewart distracts Luhr, March-Phillipps and his cohorts prepare to attack by sea.

There’s a smug tone to the narrative suggesting that the picture is a little too pleased with itself. And some of the details are off, as when Luhr plays a song from Bertolt Brecht’s “The Threepenny Opera” on the gramophone. Both leftist Brecht and his “Threepenny” musical collaborator, Jewish composer Kurt Weil, were anathema to the Nazis.

But the main hurdle to any enjoyment of “Ministry” remains its vivid mayhem, which seems to exact about as many German casualties in two hours as the Soviets did in six months at Stalingrad. While, within the context of the period in which the picture is set, the only good Nazi may have been a dead one, the relish with which they’re wiped out remains unsettling.

The film contains frequent stylized but often brutal violence, some images of gore, a glimpse of rear nudity, at least one use of profanity and a couple of rough terms. The OSV News classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

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