Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
“He’s living a double-life an a superhero and an asshole”
24-year-old Zara Ford hates her boss, Chris Cole, a demanding movie star who makes her run all his errands, including getting break-up gifts for his many girlfriends. So when Zara finally quits her job, she is horrified to find Chris in bed with her author mom, Brooke Harwood, the very next day. Can Zara nip this unexpected romance in the bud? Or will she have to tolerate her “diva” (Zara’s words, not mine) boss forever?!
Directed by Richard LaGravenese and written by Carrie Solomon, the 2024 romantic comedy “A Family Affair” pairs Nicole Kidman and Zac Efron for the first time as romantic leads Brooke and Chris. However, it’s Joey King as Zara—Brooke’s bratty daughter and Chris’ hardworking assistant—who steals the show. Joey is equal parts adorable and annoying as the young Zara, who freaks out, as one would, when she finds out her mom is sleeping with her dreaded boss.
Even though the primary premise of “A Family Affair” is similar to Anne Hathaway’s “The Idea of You,” – both movies are about a single mom dating a much younger celebrity – the age gap between Chris and Brooke is not an issue in the movie at all. Zara’s paranoia and worry that Chris will just treat her mother like all the other women he has been with form the central conflict of the tale. Zara hilariously says, “My mom Love in the Afternoon-ed my evil boss,” referencing the 1957 age-gap romance film “Love in the Afternoon,” where Gary Cooper was paired with Audrey Hepburn, who was 28 years his junior.
Zac Efron is 21 years younger than Nicole Kidman, and the pair looks like a G.I. Joe doll wooing an older Barbie Doll. Their onscreen chemistry just doesn’t work. Instead, all the other relationships in the film are much cuter, even Zara’s chaotic work equation with Chris! Kathy Bates plays Brooke’s mother-in-law, Leila Ford, and the two women have one of the sweetest onscreen relationships you will see as far as mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law go. Brooke and Leila are more gossipy best friends who tell each other everything. As a long-term Nicole Kidman fan, it was nice to see her in a romantic-comedy after a long time, especially after watching her play a anxious, grief-stricken mother in the drama “Expats”.
All that said, “A Family Affair” is a romantic comedy that, despite having some really fun self-aware dialogues (like Chris constantly dissing his own film scripts), gets its most important ingredient wrong—the romantic spark is just not there. The writers just give viewers the usual spiel about how Brooke is the only woman that makes Chris feel like himself. Why? Nobody knows. Unless it’s because Brooke extensive knowledge of Greek mythology (which sure as hell doesn’t seem the case). At least Brooke’s attraction is simple – Chris is young, handsome, successful, fit star.
Given its three distinct leads, the film ends up as a half-baked, contrived story. It should have either focused on Zara’s journey of growing up, moving out of her mother’s house, and accepting her mother’s individuality, or on Brooke’s journey of self-discovery as an author and screenwriter, learning to see herself as more than just Zara’s mother. The climactic conflict is very predictable, but at least the climax is a little different than the sweeping, grand gestures of never-dying love. And thanks to a talented cast, this makes for a decent one-time-watch.
Rating: 5 on 10. You can watch “A Family Affair” on Netflix.
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