There are many films about love with a large age difference, but most of them deal with strange and unhealthy relationships where the man is older than his beloved. 'A Family Affair', released on June 28 on Netflix, reveals a different perspective, w...
At the start of her career in the film industry, Zara (Joey King) dreamed of something more than picking up dry cleaning, buying protein in the middle of the night, and moving her boss's ex-girlfriend's belongings. Working as a personal assistant to Hollywood superstar Chris Cole (Zac Efron) had dragged on too long, and after another tantrum, she decides to quit. In an attempt to win back his former subordinate, Chris visits Zara at home, where he meets her mother (Nicole Kidman), with whom he begins a romance.
The evolution of the female image has been happening since the dawn of cinema, and now, it seems, is at its historical peak. However, the problem of denying age-related changes still exists, and actresses who reach 40-45 years old disappear from screens or appear in the role of grandmothers. For example, 'The Matrix' star Carrie-Anne Moss received an offer to play such a character the day after her fortieth birthday; Olivia Cooke, who plays the adult Alicent Hightower in 'House of the Dragon', admitted that she feels strange when, at thirty, she plays a grandmother, and her on-screen children are only a few years younger than her.
From main characters and key locations to new showrunners and potential storylines — we tell you about the series 'House of the Dragon', approved by George R.R. Martin himself.
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As delicate as this problem is, they are trying to fight it. Now we can follow the problems of adult women and their ambitions, not lost by fifty, in the sequel to 'Sex and the City' 'And Just Like That', the unquenchable thirst for life and the struggle for change in our society that Frances McDormand gave us in the Oscar-winning 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri' and 'Nomadland'.
Regardless of their age, adult women can fall in love, not only with their peers but also with younger men. If the recent 'fanfic adaptation' of a relationship with a former One Direction member, 'The Idea of You', is rather an overly romanticized and silly example, then 'A Family Affair' by director Richard LaGravenese ('P.S. I Love You', 'Paris, je t'aime', 'Freedom Writers') is slightly different and offers a broader view of this issue.
Naive, not aspiring to anything more than streaming fame, 'A Family Affair' tries to bring viewers back to the melodramas of the early 2010s, when biting and below-the-belt jokes had almost disappeared, and the genre itself still frequently appeared on screens. Love permeates the entire film, both within the small matriarchal family of the main character and outside it. The relationship between Brooke and Chris, around which the conflict is built, is not inventive: a dumb (but only at first glance!) jock and the holder of prestigious writing awards end up in the same bed after drinking alcohol, where her daughter Zara catches them. Then comes the obligatory montage of the first date, secret relationships, quarrels due to omissions, and everything else from the list of clichés.
Watching this couple is pleasant, if only because the chemistry between Zac Efron and Nicole Kidman is somewhat believable, and they interact wonderfully with each other, sometimes making you laugh or feel touched. Interestingly, 'A Family Affair' bases most of its jokes on references to Efron's career — from flirting with the image of a stereotypical athlete ('Baywatch', 'Neighbors') to references to the musical components of his other films ('High School Musical', 'The Greatest Showman'). Particularly emotional is the scene showing the scar on his chin, resulting from an accident that led to changes in his appearance, for which the actor was bullied on social media.
The family idyll and the entire film are spoiled by the main character. With her infantilism and tantrums, she is terribly annoying, and it is simply impossible to empathize with her drama, just as it is impossible to sympathize with her. By placing Zara in the position of the main character in 'A Family Affair', the authors choose to focus on the perspective and understanding of the normality of a relationship between an adult woman and a young guy. The view of the story from the daughter's side should show the breadth of this problem, but along with other issues such as self-determination, career choice, friendship, and family continuity, it is not possible to keep attention on the age-gap relationship, and you start to get tired of the film by its middle.
'A Family Affair' does not repeat the success and hardly matches the quality of last year's 'No Hard Feelings' with Jennifer Lawrence, but as a simple, summer-winter melodrama for one evening, it looks decent.
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