Nicole Kidman & Zac Efron Find Romance

The original title of the new romantic comedy, A Family Affair was the much edgier MotherF*&#er, and despite being very funny in terms of the basic story here of an older woman who starts an affair with the younger movie star boss of her 24 year old daughter, it probably sets off wrong expectations for what is a smart, character-driven romcom that serves up a delicious cast with a witty script and engaging situation for all. The generic title, A Family Affair gets more to the point as this all directly involves three people in a multi-generational coming-of-age tale for all in their search for personal happiness.

Netflix is actually using that original title in their ad line for the film, calling it “A MotherF*&#er Of A Love Story”, and that says it all. Coming on the heels of Amazon’s romcom, The Idea Of You in which a 40-something single mom played by Anne Hathaway finds unexpected love with a 24 year old superstar rock star played by Nicholas Galitzine when she chaperones her teenage daughter to his group’s concert, A Family Affair also finds plenty of mileage in a similar setup.

Nicole Kidman plays writer Brooke Harwood, a famous author enduring a lull in her career when into her life comes a much younger man, a 30-something action movie star Chris Cole (Zac Efron) who also is the somewhat obnoxious and demanding boss to Brooke’s 24 year old daughter Zara, herself at a frustrating point in her career still forced to cater to Cole’s every whim as his assistant and failing to move up the ladder to associate producer as he had promised she might. Instead he’s constantly threatening to fire her on the days she isn’t threatening to quit. Life, however is about to get very complicated when after a chance encounter sparks fly between Chris and Zara’s mother with whom she still lives at home.

Brooke has been widowed for 11 years, and not necessarily looking for love in her life. She is wise, proud of her daughter and hoping for the best for her, but now unexpectedly falling for a movie star who deep down is quite insecure. Zara however is skeptical, to say the least, as she is the one who has always had to do the dirty work in Cole’s previous relationships where his track record is to get out of them with a goodbye gift of diamond earrings. She fears, with good reason, things could go south now with her mother as this new relationship hits just a little too close to home.

Screenwriter Carrie Solomon was just about the age of Zara when she got the inspiration to write a script about the older woman/younger man romance, a flip of the usual Hollywood menu of older man/younger woman that has long been favored in the movies, or in real life scandalous couplings like the recent May December was inspired by. Significantly she has set the film during the Christmas season, but this isn’t what you would call a “Christmas movie” so it doesn’t seem glaringly out of place in June where it is being released.

Casting in these romcoms is crucial and fortunately Kidman and Efron had a head start as they were cinematically involved in the very different Lee Daniels 2012 drama, The Paperboy. Here you instantly believe the chemistry despite the 21 year age difference between the two stars. How refreshing it is as well to see Kidman, very appealing here, in a rare romantic comedy role, one she clearly is relishing but also one she credibly grounds in reality. We must believe this conceited movie star, always catered to, can be legitimately attracted to his long suffering assistant’s mother – and vice versa – and the stars make us buy it. As for Efron his comic timing is right on the money, especially in his work relationship with Zara, the pair playing off each other in time-honored screwball comedy fashion. King is simply terrific here, proving she has the same impressive chops for comedy, even in some slapstick moments, as she does for more tortured dramatic roles like The Act and the current We Were The Lucky Ones.

Adding nicely to the mix is the ever-reliable Kathy Bates turning up often these days in supporting roles, this one as Brooke’s mother-in-law and editor who offers sage advice not just to Brooke, but also her own granddaughter. A game Liza Koshy gets the more standard best friend role to Zara but doesn’t get much of a chance to really run with it.

Director Richard LaGravenese, best known for his screenplays like The Horse Whisperer, The Fisher King, The Bridges Of Madison County, and countless others, here has one of his best efforts as director expertly navigating the comic beats of this situation, but also effectively balancing the more emotional moments as well. He and Solomon are not reinventing the romcom wheel but have delivered a bright and sophisticated entertainment for adults looking for the kind of grown up movie increasingly rare, outside of streamers at least which is exactly where, like The Idea Of You, audiences are going to have to find this one. Seek it out.

Producers are Joe Roth and Jeff Kirschenbaum.

Title: A Family Affair

Director: Richard LaGravenese

Screenplay: Carrie Solomon

Cast: Nicole Kidman, Zac Efron, Joey King, Kathy Bates, Liza Koshy.

Running Time: 1 hour and 51 minutes

Distributor: Netflix

Release Date: June 28, 2024