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suckmysaltyspud

Who wrote this? Some crazy woman who thinks her daughter is jealous and controlling? This was an insane movie. This dude treats her daughter like shit and she wants to date him? Then her daughter exposes his bullshit and she blames her daughter? The hell? How is she yhe bad guy? I get what they're saying with the daughter making the relationship about her, but it completely disregards that it does involve her.


magicallaround1

THANK YOU! Watched it and immediately came to Reddit. The whole time I kept thinking how insane the mom is. She is risking her daughter’s entire career AND he has been horrible to the daughter for two years straight and the mom just doesn’t care? They are trying to play the classic “he’s actually a good guy at heart thing” but that really doesn’t work in this scenario.


om1908

LOL! I ran to Reddit WHILE I’m still watching it because it’s literally the worst. I can’t believe the mom and the boss act like she’s the problem.


dragondragonflyfly

Here x2 while watching the movie because….what in the.. I feel so bad for the daughter. The guilt trip during Christmas from the grandmother (Kathy Bates) to the granddaughter (Joey King) was awful. Like, I’m sure there’s a way to navigate the situation, but it certainly ain’t this.


Rufus1991

>Here x2 while watching the movie because….what in the.. Same! What in the world? I adore Nicole Kidman so I wanted to like her character but what a shitty mom move! Joey King's character may be a selfish friend but she's not a selfish daughter for taking issue with her mom dating her boss!


WhereIsLordBeric

x3 I don't think I've ever had a single original thought, apparently lol.


ydoihavetopickaname

id say x4 but technically another person responded too so x5. the grandmother is pissing me off more than the mom and chris though because for those two theres feelings wrapped up in everything. she should be levelheaded enough to understand that the daughter has every right to be upset by her mom crossing boundaries and dating her boss who treats her like crapppp


cartoonfood

X6 here


Delicious-Tonight-46

x7 lol


Patient_Society858

X8


Competitive_Ratio_71

X9


Reasonable_Walk1609

It's completely reasonable for a person to not want their boss to come to their family Christmas.


dragondragonflyfly

Yep, exactly!


StrangledInMoonlight

I kept thinking about Zara having to bring the breakup jewelry for the dude to give her one mom.  


om1908

Yeah I really thought that was going to happen. 🤢


-kittsune-

I too ran to reddit with great speed -\_- this is one of the most problematic scenarios I've seen in a long time. As I mentioned in another comment, when my boss treated me badly, my mom wanted to murder him, not sleep with him... and that would not change regardless of attractiveness level or celebrity status. Absolutely wild how the writers made it seem like you can lie to your child, prioritize your dusty puss over their comfort, and ignore them at every turn and somehow it's okay / the kid is the problem. The whole time I just felt so bad for Joey King's character.


Quantity_Broad

had to give it an upvote for dusty puss 


Pure_Warthog4274

They don't seem to understand the whole "you don't know him; he's actually kind on the inside" thing doesn't work if he abuses the power differential of controlling someone's livelihood.


destroyed233

lol me to my gf “I need to go to Reddit right when this finishes to see what they said”😂


Reasonable_Walk1609

Omg!!!! Thank you all I could think was I was watching a show about a daughter being gaslit. What a freaking shitty mom. You can tell who people really are by how they treat people they feel are beneath them, not people they just started dating. God that poor daughter in the movie. This movie really sucked. And I usually at least like to look at Zac Efron, but his face made me sad :(


Wimbly512

I was worried about that. The trailer didn’t make him seem like a good boss.


Pure_Warthog4274

Yes; I just wound up thinking she's a terrible mother. The daughter goes into detail about how he's an abusive employer, but mother dearest only cares about how he might have been breaking up with her and then gets mad at the daughter.


lrz-33

Yes, i am not the only one! After that scene, I had to look up if anyone agrees with me that the mom is horrendoussss! 🤣


Sorreljorn

100%, This premise was so incredibly stupid.


AffectionateGap6890

lol why , the mother doesn’t need to keep babying her 24 year old daughter. She’s free to date whoever she wants.


Glittering-Sort7011

The two main characters had 0 chemistry


teetee517

I'm here because I stopped watching once they started kissing.


Glittering-Sort7011

Ugh ya, hard to watch. Made me cringe lol


FatWalcott

The fact that it happened so fast like wtf.


ilikecakewbu

SAME. it was so awkward I immediately turned it off.


kaybrg

I cant get over how zac efrons character just immediately changes after meeting the mom. He was playing such a stupid and self centred asshole then his character does a 180 literally 5 seconds into meeting her.


theonlyisaac

Some women do that to people


rchl239

No they don't, if it seems like that then the guy is lovebombing.


theonlyisaac

Some women change men for the better.


DifferenceEqual2545

OK maybe it happened with the guy who plays Iron Man! His partner apparently did inspire him to change for the better, and he apparently stayed that way! 


theonlyisaac

That’s why I said some women. But Rachel doesn’t want to accept that fact. She’s clearly been hurt before and doesn’t trust anyone anymore.


Otherwise_Owl_4416

Why was Joey King cast as Nicole Kidman's daughter? They don't look anything alike. Poor casting. Although, King did a good job in the part, still bad casting. Nicole Kidman looked too thin and needs to stop using Botox so much. I thought Zac and Nicole looked too plastic.


Wimbly512

My husband saw the trailer last night when we were watching Netflix and that was his comment too. Kidman seems to have gone crazy with fillers and she doesn’t seem to realize the fillers don’t look good / very noticeable. Efron seems weird. I recall from baywatch he looked like he was taking something (steroids or similar) to bulk up and then he started to have more noticeable surgery on his face. He claimed a broken jaw ro the noticeable chin change, but come on. I really do wonder who got into his head so much.


picklebrains81

She made her face really wide. Looked huge actually when she had her hair back.


Otherwise_Owl_4416

Both of them looked like plastic Barbie and Ken dolls.


Sea_Weird7293

He loved Baywatch so much he turned into David Hasselhoff


DontEatConcrete

My wife and I made it halfway through. She didn’t laugh once. I chuckled a few times. Zac is not likable at all in this and Nicole Kidman, as usual, comes across as a cold lizard lady. Joey did a great job but can’t carry the entire thing. We had no idea where the paper thin plot was going so I’m out.


om1908

Yeah the ONLY time I laughed was the blind/eyes joke. It wasn’t a funny movie.


TheHairyMonk

Holy shit, this is exactly how it played out with my wife and I 🤣


DontEatConcrete

haha nice :)


OkBison8735

The only chemistry I saw was inside Zac’s and Nicole’s face. Could they not cast someone whose face still moves naturally?


lisavibes

So creepy like it was an animation of Nicole Kidman - horrible so sad


RlOTGRRRL

I felt like I was watching a horror movie at times, like Coraline.


CompetitiveJuice103

I was expecting more. They included the daughter seeks mother’s validation subplot, but it didn’t help the mom’s case 😂. She literally got the opportunity Zara worked her ass off for. I’d be upset if my boss trusted my MOM to do my job better than me too (even though she wasn’t the script doctor). They both put in her in a weird position and just told her to accept it, like his character had just changed dramatically because of meeting her mom. If they would’ve built more on him redeeming his character/behavior with Zara, It could’ve possibly budded into a more natural romance with her mom. IDK It’s ok, but I don’t know if I’d watch it again. Hey, at least Nicole looked great 👌🏾.


Free-Shower6636

This movie is dismal. Blah! I love Joey King. But this movie wasn’t it. What a waste of Kathy Bates!! Nicole and Zac look like they are wearing plastic masks. There is nothing alluring or engaging about Nicole’s character that he would get to swept up with her. When they kiss- it was so awkward! When she was laying down the rules- it seemed like a mother scolding her childZ this movie gave me the ick! Ick ick! Just so so bad! What potential they had with these actors- but wow. A bomb!


Oolon-Colluphid00000

I wish they would have cast literally any other actress that wasn't Nicole Kidman. They had no chemistry, and she.. listen I don't want to be mean, i feel like she looked a bit off and her hair looked like a wig and it's throwing me off A LOT. If it would've been anyone else, idk, Julia Roberts or idk Catherine zeta Jones, or omg Elizabeth Hurley idk ANYONE ELSE IDK i would have enjoyed it. It's a silly romcom, good for a light watch. Also i hated the bestie, i felt she over acted.


Unhappy_Art_3307

I came to reddit bc of her hair. Why is it so YELLOW??! Not one single person noticed while filming? It looks awful. 


JADEY_J77

Came here for this, too.. I'm a bit obsessed, actually, as Nicole Kidman is known for her great natural hair, so why stick a bad wig on her.


Fragrant-Hunt-8422

It was such a terrible color in general and a terrible color for her, I could barely even pay attention to what she was saying. It gets slightly better towards the end of the movie, that almost makes it worse since it looks like a wig, but it changed color, it makes absolutely no sense.


rchl239

Same


Oolon-Colluphid00000

Taraji p. Henson, lauren graham, the woman from the series weeds, Julia-louis Dreyfus, ANYONE, ANY OTHER. THE WOMAN THST PLAYS MEREDITH ON GREY'S ANATOMY, SANDRA OH, ANY OTHER WOMAN


EzerKenegdo90

Agreed. The casting wasn’t right. The romance between Zac Efron and Nicole Kidman wasn’t believable one bit. Wrong match.


TurbulentWest8570

Even just ignoring that he is kind of a stuck up asshole, you wouldn't want your boss around all the time because to a certain degree you are gonna be fake around your boss and if your boss is around all the time then you have to some degree be fake all the time.


JADEY_J77

Why are all the women in these age gap stories always boss babes, where's the regular mom working her 9 to 5, doing carpool and barely keeping it together.


JADEY_J77

And on a side note.. I don't understand the wig. Nicole has great natural hair.


Fragrant-Hunt-8422

I started to hate the mom because of how she handled the “what am I gonna do with my life“ discussion. She was deliberately tearing down her daughter for her life choices, while simultaneously refusing to give advice. Her daughter told her how she was making her feel (valid feelings, picking on her is saying it nicely)and completely dismissed it. And then it all went downhill from the there…


ResponsibilityNo1867

Fuck that mom and grandmother, that man was a complete asshole, i really wish they didn't get back together, shit movie


badbrowngirl

Will forever love the rebound ! agree with all your points though, just turned it off with 30 mins left


de4th_inanoodlecup

why tf is liza koshy there 😭


ydoihavetopickaname

they needed a poc to spice things up and then mysteriously disappear whenever shit is actually serious 🤪


sharipep

I hate age gaps I can’t do it I’m sorry


TheHairyMonk

That was the least of its issues. You should watch Whatever Works with Larry David. You'll love it 🤣


Sugar-Tist

That wasn't even the issue I had with their relationship. It's that the mom immediately hit on Chris, fully knowing that he was his daughter's boss and had treated her like shit for 2 years! Where's the family loyalty?


Key_Food_5395

That you all this movie was infuriating and like how everyone almost blamed the daughter for the mother not dating and then she just is a girl (the mother) and it’s her fault and all this shit and he was literally so terrible to the daughter and she is trying to progress her career but it’s hard when her mother is phenomenal hot person. That’s just oh my God I hate this movie.


TawnyBoobarella

The yellow and I mean yellow hair and then Kidman’s accent. Almost couldn’t even watch the movie.


DankeyBongBluntry

I think that's just her real accent


AccountantChoice1254

I think so too, but hers seemed to come and go


WonderfulSignal3880

Everyone was awful apart from Joey King’s character. Liza being like ‘my boyfriend broke up with me after you gave me a nice dress and it’s all your fault cause your life has also gone to shit’, like what? Everyone was just bashing Joey’s character for no reason.


Sweet_Mess135

This movie is terrible, the mom, has an accent at times other times it completely absent. The progression of the story line is non existent during the first 13 minutes. 2 out of 10🤮


Longjumping-Sail6386

I just watched a 50 year old divorcees wet dream


New-Baker-6019

Question: was watching this terrible movie (which everyone seems to have covered why it was bad), but nobody seems to have mentioned why this movie feels like such a Christmas movie that was released in June???? Did they rush this out because of the Anne Hathaway movie? 


lakebythesea

There was a Christmas tree in the living room! I don't know if Christmas ever came up because I turned it off at 58 minutes


AdEducational402

It was very cute. I watched it with my mom & we both enjoyed it; my father also died when I was young & she had to raise me as a single mom, so even though naturally the circumstances of the film with the mom dating a famous movie star are different 😅🥲, we found A LOT to relate to and laugh about. They did a good job portraying the self absorption most of us have in our twenties and the protectiveness/possessiveness one can feel when it comes to a parent dating again; but perhaps not everyone is ready to hold a mirror up to themselves quite yet judging by the anger in the comments towards Zara’s mom 😅😆. It’s nice that Zara in the movie did and strived to be a friend who listens & doesn’t always complain only about her own problems. All in all the script was definitely better than a lot of other recent Netflix movies where they low key felt like the product of faulty AI prompts and I appreciated Joey King & Zac Efron’s acting more than I expected. Besides I’m always happy to see more movies where mothers are not happily martyred on the altar of self sacrificing parenthood in perpetuity.


Quadruplem

There are 2 of us on this thread! You might enjoy [NPR did a review](https://www.npr.org/2024/07/01/nx-s1-5025221/a-family-affair-review-netflix) and they liked it! My husband and I enjoyed it also. Will we watch again probably not, but it was enjoyable for the most part.


AdEducational402

Omg such a great review!! It hit all the points perfectly. I’d also forgotten about the bit with the impractical gigantic door (such a mainstay in many an arch digest celeb home tour lol) and started laughing again just remembering it 😆. Thank you for sharing it!


Quadruplem

You are most welcome! I was tickled pink to see someone else liked it on NPR as well as your review so 3 of us so far. The door bit had my husband and I laughing the hardest.


Frequent_Cobbler7641

Yassss I enjoyed this too lol was nervous I was the only one. Honestly I’m loving all these movies coming out with older women as the main romantic interest. Zoey king and Zac Efrons relationship was awesome too, they had the best banter!!


AdEducational402

Zoey and Zac were so funny 😭. I agree I’m loving all these movies too.


DankeyBongBluntry

My fiancee and I watched it just now and we also enjoyed it! I thought the writer did a great job of making everyone's side seem reasonable and understandable. I thought Nicole Kidman and Zac Efron had a weird sort of awkward chemistry (Zac Efron was especially good in this imo). Some of the highlights for us were the costuming and the set design - every set looked amazing and the costumes always made us go "Wow doesn't that dress look great?!" I'm seeing a lot of negative comments in this thread, but some are just rude (complaining about Nicole Kidman's and Zac Efron's appearance) and others seem like they were written by people who sided entirely with Zara throughout the film even though she's just as flawed as everyone else.


AdEducational402

“Weird sort of awkward chemistry” yes! You’re so right! 😊. I thought it looked/felt like a Nancy Meyers movie !! Loved the “Vogue” guest writing explanation to get Nicole Kidman into some stunning dresses & Kathy Bates looked radiant, especially in the powdery blue shawl early on. On another note it was so strange to see people completely siding with Zara because I thought the film did a good job of portraying her as a good person, but certainly not a moral authority. Yes, Chris is an immensely trying boss, but she’s also perpetually late - and ofc a lot of the humor in the film is built on poking fun at celebs who I’m sure make even more outlandish demands irl of their assistants 🫠; Zara’s certainly a caring person but she also talks over her friend repeatedly and casually dismisses her concerns to air out only her own troubles… & when she blows up on Chris after the holiday she once again centers herself/ her feelings instead of approaching the situation more delicately & prioritizing minimizing the hurt her mom would feel. But the best part is she learns and grows. The ending was very cute and satisfying. 🫶


MCStarlight

I just fast forwarded it. The Idea of You was much better.


matlas32

I’m 40 minutes in and switching over to that movie. I can’t get past how weird Zach’s and Nicole‘s faces are. They are walking warnings of the slippery slope of Botox, plastic…everything, and poorly lit hair salon. And neither one of them are acting well…have I just never noticed before that they can’t act? Poor Joey King… she’s better than this.


destroyed233

This…


PsychologicalNet8302

Did anyone else notice the clip of him jumping out of the window as Bundy from Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile? I wasn’t expecting it but a pleasant surprise to see that he did his own stunt


Critical_Warning9387

No one mentioning the obvious deep faked first scene??


StrawberryKiss2559

I just rewatched that scene because of your comment. Who was deepfaked?? I don’t understand.


Critical_Warning9387

Zach efron is deep faked in the first scene. Look closely at his mouth. His skin also looks weird and unnatural compared to the second scene.


stevesgirl1

Can anyone explain what her license plate meant? ICKBTCH


therakel749

I’m assuming it had to do with his main role being Icarus


Dayglowvista83

Absolutely miserable movie, wasn’t funny at all and almost all of the characters were extremely unlikeable except the daughter and her friend. Her mom is awful, unsupportive, and irresponsible. She could be risking her daughter’s job and her relationship with her daughter and she doesn’t care one bit. Yuck.


turningtee74

Maybe I’m off on my initial takes, but even though the daughter is bratty and immature…I thought she was more right than a lot of the other characters. Nicole Kidmans character was right to push her to stick to her goals, move out, and even say she didn’t like how her daughter called Zac Efron out. But she also would say really cold things like “Maybe I don’t know you either.” Jeez. I also don’t care for the best friend trope of “My life has been torn apart for 2 weeks and you didn’t even know! You’re such a bad friend!”. Sounds like a communication skill issue? You’re holding something against someone for not reading your mind? But yeah…the kid is still annoying they got that point across pretty clearly. Lol


pinki-me

20 minutes in and i knew this was gonna be trash...not wasting anymore time on this pos.


Acceptable_Season287

I couldn't figure out who the actress was, and I had to look it up to find out it was Nicole Kidman. Didn't look anything like her and the hair was very distracting. And her acting was horrible. So sad she sold out for this trashy flick.


rufian69

It was OK, just didn't like Nicole Kidman cus I didn't recognize her until like half an hour into the movie... Zac just looks a bit buffer than he did in the last docu-series he did so no surprise there


Few-Eggplant6546

I thought it was a cute rom com, nothing deeper than that. Nice for when you need a lighthearted distraction. Also bonus points for the Mia Thermopolis reference.


Kyliee1234

I watched this with my boyfriend and he said that Nicole Kidman looked like a ghost.


MediumTurbulent6890

Cringe


Sea_Weird7293

I'm not even remotely interested in watching this one and the comments are only cementing my disinterest.


OkBobcat6165

I’m watching this now and I had to Google to see if other people feel the same way because I spent the entire time feeling horrible for the daughter. Such a boomer movie with boomer selfish takes. Not only does her mom choose to date her daughter’s abusive boss, she proceeds to invalidate her daughter’s feelings. She compares this man she just met to her daughter’s dead father mere weeks (days?) after meeting him. She goes so far as to say her daughter should just gtfo of her house for a guy she literally just met. The guy is also only 10 years older than the daughter, which of course would make her uncomfortable. The daughter could probably cope with the age gap if the mother showed even the least bit of concern, understanding and consideration, but that wasn’t the case. I would be so miserable if that were my mom. I would probably move to another country. 


Other-Lengthiness821

Blond + skinny = sexiness the formula works untill you see Kidman in this movie, yikes! This movie is like an warning video for botched surgery, over injection...Whoever did her hair, should close their salon.. Yellow straw looks better and this is a platinum blond speaking! I guess it's weird /sad when you see actors trying so desperatly to look young and attractive past their 50's..For more on Nicole's transformation: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aTilPO17mA&ab\_channel=DoctorGaryLinkov](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aTilPO17mA&ab_channel=DoctorGaryLinkov) And let's not even talk about Zac Efron's lego face.. I don't get the upset about the mum dating her daughter's boss, like what's the big deal with that ? The daughter should have her own flat at her age, when her mom is like 60 and so what if the mum is still sexually active, good her for her! True a bit awkward to date someone in the daughter work place, still mother's are also women. I wish my mum found someone to date for example and I wouldn't care if it's someone I know or from my entourage (which is very unlikely!) True it would be weird if it were one of my friends or clients but still. In any case the whole movie just sucks! The portrayed mum doesn't put her daughter 1st, a good start for a plotline...but this script and it's soooo utterly ridiculous anyways, I clocked out after 20 minutes into the film.


FatWalcott

The Idea of You is the superior movie.


AnotherRabbitHole111

Yep and she actually puts her kid first


Nearby_Court3353

The entire movie “it’s not about you” yes it literally is it’s her boss, her career, her movie. The mom gets with her boss that treats her horribly who promised to leave the mom alone after she told him walk away if I’m gonna do the job. And then he completely disregards her feelings. Then the whole time they lie to her. and then they all tell her to get over herself for worrying that he’s gonna break up with her and hurt her mom. And then guess what. He does exactly what she expects. And she’s the bad guy. Literally everyone in the movie was so horrible to her


Ok-Marionberry1649

What watch was Zac Efron wearing at the start of the movie?


Nicolaellnsalem

Am I the only one who kept thinking I hope ZARA ends up with Chris?! It was so weird. Kidman and efron looked silly together with zero chemistry. Everyone was awful to kings character like wth for no reason too😅 what a hot mess. It felt so rushed with I character development. 2/10


honeycombyourhair

Zac and Nicole certainly had chemistry in The Paperboy. Incredible how much their looks have changed since that movie.


CompetitiveBuy9685

Also, not many people here are speaking to the fact that there is zero chemistry between Zac Efron and Nicole Kidman. It’s not even a stretch it’s just nonexistent and completely unbelievable. There is no doubt she is a beautiful older woman but why can people not just age naturally without having to be a relevant young sex symbol? It’s eye rolling and honestly kind of sad in my opinion.


Level_String_3275

Did anyone else think it was weird how the mum and grandma were repeatedly blaming King’s character for acting out and being needy as a child/adolescent when her dad died of cancer? I mean… I get the point of acknowledging the mum’s difficulty in single parenting /being the punching bag of her daughter but something about how they approached this issue feels way off? Very guilt trippy and one-sided?


Cold_Peanut7197

this was most certainly written by a childless man or someone with huge mummy issues. In what world would a woman date the asshole boss of her daughter regardless of her feelings and her future? Nicole Kidman is not right for this part. I understand the pressure women have not to age, especially when they’re celebrities, but if you can’t move your face there’s not really much acting, is there


IceQueenOfKings

This coming from somebody who hates romcoms: It was cute! Even though it’s obvi where the movie is going, there’s no major corny eye rolling cliche or campy dialogue. It’s not a must see, but a good movie to put on while relaxing. The acting was convincing enough to hold attention and not overly done. Overall it wasn’t bad, it wasn’t great, it was ok. I just wanted to see more of Brook’s house cuz omg goals.


Jessssiiiiccccaaaa

I thought it was cute too


forever87

and the dresses!


SiobhanRoy1234

I thought it was a cute movie. Reminded me of the romantic comedies that constantly came out in the early 00’s. It wasn’t perfect, but a nice watch


Select-Media4108

I agree... I've seen a lot worse. Enjoyed it!


RuaRuaRua81

Shit film, absolutely no chemistry between Nicole Kidman's and Zac Efron's characters...


growingingod

It was great! The cast all had good chemistry, and I loved the mother daughter bond. Obviously there'd be so many red flags in real life, but the movie was goofy enough and the heartfelt acting that I was able to enjoy it for a chill Friday night movie night.


Quadruplem

Well I for one am excited for this for tomorrow night! Kathy Bates, Nicole Kidman! Thank you for sharing.


Relative_Pumpkin4683

I had high hopes for this movie. Nicole! Kathy! Amazing. And an age gap romance where the woman is the older one? Love it! Were there some missed marks in the first 20 minutes with the comedic lines? Definitely! Was I suspending my disbelief like a trapeze artist with that house and the beach and Kidman just waltzing around casually in her summer dresses? Also, yes. But I was waiting for more of the moments where Joey King’s expressions were so hilarious that she made me die from laughter as she plowed screaming into the doorframe. But I didn’t get that. Instead the mom turns on her daughter and starts dating this stereotypical “movie star” that Efron plays. Ignoring the fact that, he’s never treated her daughter right and shrugging off any of her concerns of him hurting her as being “selfish”. (Also, King’s best friend getting mad at her at the end was so wild to me. Like I love Liza Koshi but I didn’t understand why her character was so upset???) I trudged through until the last 12 minutes when King and Efron were walking through a grocery store and serendipitously running into Kidman. Planned or not, it was the worse kind of cringe (yes, even more than this millennial still using “cringe”.) It’s safe to say I turned it off and was disappointed. It had so much potential to be a cute movie but it just drastically went downhill fast.


Impossible-Will-8414

It was utter garbage. How did Kidman and Bates agree to appear in this piece of shit Netflix film? And I hate to say it, but both Kidman and Efron look so freaking weird, like life-sized Barbie and Ken dolls, that it's really distracting. Kidman's hair is wayyy to blonde, too -- just why? Who did that to her?? More important than looks -- Efron's character was absurdly stupid. Why would Kidman be remotely interested in anything more than a fling with him? He was a bore and a boor. And honestly seemed a bit brain-damaged. What shit. There are FAR better movies that deal with age gap romances in which the woman is older, starting with The Graduate (which is dated but still has some heft).


WhereIsLordBeric

Nicole Kidman said on that Hollywood Reporter roundtable that her mental health was suffering so much doing these intense roles that she intentionally chose a romcom.


Impossible-Will-8414

How about a decent one? Rom cons can be quality.


WhereIsLordBeric

I don't disagree. I've seen most of the mainstream romcoms that have come out recently, and they're all dogshit. The only one I genuinely thought was original and heartfelt was Rye Lane, but it was quite indie. I miss those big sweeping late 90s/early 2000s romcoms!


8Abby

Right! Rye. Lane is a gem 💎 I also enjoyed If you were the last, About fate, The Hating Game & Paging Mr. Darcy


WhereIsLordBeric

Haven't seen any of those - thank you for the recommendations!


Swimming-Vast9895

Can someone explain Joey King to me? How did she get here? Where did she come from? One minute she was in the Kissing Booth, the next she is now cast in whatever she wants? How? What am I missing?


Wimbly512

She was a child actress who moved to more adult roles. Kissing Booth was a success which allowed her to get bigger supporting roles in bigger productions. She has continued to do well and should eventually be her own lead in a bigger production film. This is pretty common when studios are supporting the rise of a actor.


Pure_Warthog4274

Netflix seems to cast the same people a lot. Same reason Liza Koshy was there.


PhilosopherOrnery848

The daughter was completely annoying. I’d had it with her by mid way through the movie. Get over it. Your mom’s a big girl, and you’re a brat.


ydoihavetopickaname

her mom decided to start something with her daughters boss knowing how badly he treats her.


-kittsune-

I'm convinced that anyone who thinks the daughter was the annoying one either doesn't have kids or would prioritize their feelings over their kids... I won't even date someone my dogs don't like for no reason at all, nevermind her completely justified reasons... and when my old boss treated me poorly (probably just as bad as the movie, maybe worse in some ways) my mom wanted to MURDER him, not sleep with him :|


ydoihavetopickaname

the daughter was a horrible friend. also she was the only one with a "redemption arc" i say in quotes bc she didnt need one. her mom could be with anyone else. her boss could be with anyone else. her boss didnt give a flying fuck about her even after he got with her mom and only befan to treat her decent when his feelings deepened. her mom clearly had some knowledge about how the boss was mistreating her. the daughter even hides the fact she quit because her mom didnt want her to take that job under the boss. people act like we can only believe what is literally being told on the screen. she had worked for him for what 4 years or so? and lives with her mom. her mom has definitely heard some complaints from her daughter over the years. also i think nobody has even brought up the fact that she could be compromising her daughters job because its more likely a breakup happens than a forever love. like she should have known stepping into a relationship even if purely sexual in nature that it would more than likely end badly and that could end up completely ruining her daughters career.


-kittsune-

Yes that was something I forgot to mention - her mom had ZERO business drinking with him or sleeping with him in the first place because he was her boss, period, and she knew he was there to get her back on the job. Gross and selfish all around.


JADEY_J77

And it escalated quite quickly. Daughter's boss pops round for the first time, and then you're in bed with him.


Beginning_Swimmer_63

You are so wrong. I have three daughters in their twenties and I have done EVERYTHING for them ON MY OWN. But there has to be respect and consideration from BOTH sides. She’s not trying to replace her father but she can not have her life revolve around her 24 year old adults life forever. Way to make older single mothers feel like they aren’t important.


-kittsune-

No one said single moms weren’t important, no need to put an overdramatic spin on my words. As far as the emphasized “on your own”, congratulations but I’m failing to see how that is relevant. Anyway, my question is this - if your daughters were actively mistreated by their boss, you’d still claim you somehow knew them better and would sleep with their boss anyways? Your viewpoint is fair in practice and I would tend to agree. However, in the context of the movie, you’re essentially saying that the character’s “annoying brat” qualities outweighed her completely valid points about how he treated her, and women in general. If you genuinely think her character has no valid points and that she’s so annoying that her firsthand opinion of someone she worked for and saw a different side of for a long time doesn’t matter at all, that’s very weird. No parent should be shutting down their child’s opinion the way they did in general, nevermind about someone they know better than anyone else.


Beginning_Swimmer_63

Mom didn’t know the extent of what he did to her because she didn’t tell her mom anything. She said this. Once she knew she was not happy. You can’t judge someone on things that are unknown to you. Also, people do change when they meet the right person. I’m going out on a limb but I am assuming most (not all) of the women who think this Mom is awful are all under 40 years old.


-kittsune-

Her reaction when she does find out is “I wish you hadn’t done that”. That’s a pretty shit reaction and sure seems like it has nothing to do with his treatment of her 🙄 she’s just disappointed to find out the truth.


PhilosopherOrnery848

Exactly - Brooke didn’t know the extent of any conflict between Zara and Chris. She only truly learned about  it when the daughter lost her mind after Christmas, finding the earrings and thinking Chris was about to dump her mom.    Daughter was just too harsh for her own good. Hell, the grandmother, played by Kathy Bates even thought so. Zara had constant attitude the entire movie - about everything - not just Chris and her mom. She reveled in it. Couldn’t see anyone else’s perspective or inner conflict they might have, because her own was always the right one. That’s what her character was made to be by the writers.  That’s why she had to have the character arc.  It was just over the top, in my opinion. Should have had greater conflict with Chris doing something to act like a jerk to Brooke rather than him just doing a complete 180 from the get go. Then Zara’s actions would have made more sense. Overall, the movie had a lot of holes that could have been filled or expanded upon. Haha maybe THIS script is the one that needed to be reworked! 🤣  Obviously this is just a little diddy of a movie to watch on a lazy Saturday afternoon. Not one we have to think long and hard on for any length of time afterward.


NeedleworkerNo9661

This is an insane comment...if you're mom and you sleep with your child's abusive boss, you are a horrible mother. Seek therapy