There has been much made of the sheer lack of chemistry between the romantic leads Kidman and Efron and it's painfully true. Watching them pretend to fall for each other really is torturous as there is little to no believable connection throughout A Family Affair, the film that can't decide if it's rom-com or dramedy with social commentary and ends up being none of the above. This is the second made for streaming film of 2024 featuring big stars that fumbles the May-December (I do hate that phrase) love story by having the younger man in the picture just be completely uninteresting and unworthy.
I do think Affair is trying to be about the mother-daughter relationship (as was the afore-referenced The Idea of You) but this one fumbles that attempt even more. Affair continues to miss its chances, each time one arises, to give us characters we can care about or relate to in any way. The ideas are so thinly drawn that we can't take any of them seriously but the film takes itself too seriously to at least be funny about any of it.
Kidman is a legend and King has such incredible screen presence and a shit load of potential. Both are wasted here in what is really a film that functions at an Efron film level.
A Family Affair
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Zac Effron, Zoey King, Kathy Bates
Director: Richard LaGravenese
Writer: Carrie Soloman
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