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A Family Affair (2024)

A Family Affair (2024)

PG-13

A lack of chemistry and character development fails this potentially smart but ultimately mediocre romcom

6.0

Movie

United States of America
English
Comedy, Romance
2024
RICHARD LAGRAVENESE
Brooks Ashmanskas, Carrie Solomon, Gissette E. Valentin
114 min

TLDR

Less thoughtful than The Idea of You, and somehow less sexy too.

What it's about

Zara (Joey King), an aspiring movie producer, is horrified to learn that her boss, movie star Chris Cole (Zac Efron) is seeing her mother, acclaimed writer Brooke Harwood (Nicole Kidman). Afraid that Chris will break Brooke's heart, she intervenes.

The take

In the grand scheme of streamer romcoms, A Family Affair is not too bad. Like The Idea of You before it, the film explores what it means to find love as a woman late in life while proving that it can be just as exciting and steamy as any other affair. The film is even occasionally funny, with Efron’s vain character banging out punchlines like “It’s one of a kind! I only have two of these!” But there are too many lapses that are hard to ignore, such as the glaring lack of chemistry between Efron and Kidman, and the sheer unlikeability of King’s Zara. Yes, they acknowledge her narcissism multiple times, but it doesn’t change how exhausting she can be, and how rushed her growth was. In fact, none of them seem to really develop, except Brooke, who is the most realized character in the film. A Family Affair is at its best when it's parodying the franchise-hungry film industry and when it’s discussing the passions and pleasures of late womanhood. Unfortunately, they often feel like two separate films, and the filler in between feels exactly like that: filler, with nothing new, important, or forgivably funny to say.

What stands out

There are so many loose ends here, like, whatever happened to the movie everyone seemed intent on making? And when the great Kathy Bates asks Zara what makes her happy in an attempt to help her figure out her career, why do we cut to a different scene? Why don’t we hear her answer? Is being a girl boss with her own production assistant to command her ultimate goal in life?

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