Showalter has performed with romance lots in his movies prior to now, be it the based-on-a-true-story “The Huge Sick” or 2020’s “The Lovebirds,” which tragically ended up going straight to Netflix. Right here, he’s as soon as once more bringing one thing new to the desk: a layered movie that would simply get misplaced within the weeds with its considerably foolish setup. What number of methods might “barely older lady meets man from a boy band at a music pageant” devolve into one thing totally trashy and/or ridiculous? And but, Showalter manages to discover a stability and make this really feel shockingly actual. It is human. It is touching. It by no means loses sight of the bigness of what’s going on, but it nonetheless feels relatable to anybody who has ever felt human emotion on this enviornment.
The opposite good bit is that Showalter and co-writer Jennifer Westfeldt do not draw back from addressing the age hole between Solène and Hayes. Fairly, it makes it part of the narrative as a result of, let’s be trustworthy, it is one thing that might be talked about. Not addressing it might really feel disingenuous. On the similar time, there are various methods of attempting to handle it which may really feel greater than a little bit off-putting. It by no means ventures into such territory. It feels trustworthy. It feels actual. It feels prefer it carries some real-world weight.
No person performs with this style fairly like Showalter. This appears like a blockbuster in the way in which “As Good as It Will get” and even “Loopy Wealthy Asians” really feel like blockbusters. It is the type of film persons are going to fall in love with and watch over and over. It is not disposable like a Hallmark film of the week or a straight-to-streaming consideration seize. It is genuinely humorous whereas additionally basking within the very plausible romance of all of it.