Nicole Kidman has a lot of coals in the fire right now with upcoming projects including the supernatural comedy sequel Practical Magic 2 and the Apple TV+ adaptation of Margo’s Got Money Troubles. Somehow, though, she’s found time for a rom-com, starring opposite Zac Efron in A Family Affair (available to stream now with a Netflix subscription). So is this one you should be adding to your watch list? Critics had a chance to screen the movie ahead of its release, and it sounds like they’re not feeling the heat from this age-gap romance.
In addition to Nicole Kidman and Zac Efron, A Family Affair stars Joey King as Zara, the personal assistant to Hollywood star Chris Cole (Efron), who discovers that her boss is having an affair with her widowed mother Brooke (Kidman). This story sounds rife with complicated family dynamics, and that’s exactly what Angie Han of THR says. Despite some admitted missteps, the critic finds Efron charming enough, and writes that viewers might be moved by the film’s more tender moments in spite of themselves:
[Zac Efron] was last seen in the weepie The Iron Claw but reminds us here that he’s an even better comic talent than a dramatic one. His crackerjack timing turns decent jokes into laugh-out-loud hilarious ones, and his puppyish sweetness keeps Chris endearing at his worst. His (platonic) dynamic with King positively crackles with both exasperation and begrudging affection. At one point, Chris scoffs that it’s ‘derogatory’ for her to call him a celebrity because he’s a movie star, damnit. The moment plays as a joke, but it also contains a kernel of truth. Like The Fall Guy, A Family Affair serves as a testament to the power of movie-star charisma while simultaneously poking fun at it.
Other critics, however, were decidedly not moved or charmed by A Family Affair, as Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian says the movie’s hot premise goes cold quickly, with all sexual tension, comedy and irony out the window by the end of the first act. Bradshaw gives it 2 out of 4 stars, saying:
The initial setup is great, the Ephronesque excitable phone conversation montage is tolerable, but the cliched breakup and makeup plot transition clanks. When Chris has to magically stop being a hilarious airhead and start being Mr Perfect, things become pretty insufferable.
One critic’s “insufferable” is another critic’s “excruciating,” as Jacob Oller of AV Club grades the movie a brutal D-, calling it completely lifeless, as Nicole Kidman and Zac Efron struggle to show emotion on their “waxen faces.” The lack of character development or believability is compounded by odd choices like having scenes cut in the middle of a joke. Oller writes:
Even a spreadsheet couldn’t wring value from most of A Family Affair’s flaws. While its lovestruck leads struggle to make heartbreak look different than drunken sexual passion, the connection between their characters could at least feel like it made logical sense. But the script never connects Chris’ starting point as a complete dick and his immediate face turn to hunky angel. It also never bothers to give Brooke—who is apparently a ridiculously famous and successful author, though we have to take the movie’s word on that—any development beyond a tragic backstory. Their relationship is one of those that happens only because it is the premise of the movie. It is built of backlit makeouts and vacation commercial montages, of images not emotions.
Samantha Bergesen of IndieWire loves seeing Zac Efron back in the rom-com space but says A Family Affair doesn’t stand up to other recent age-gap romances like The Idea of You or May December, in part because it never chooses a lane to focus on tonally. Bergesen gives the movie a B-, writing:
A Family Affair can’t decide whether to be a coming-of-age story with Zara at the center, or a tale of a middle-aged woman reclaiming herself after being a single parent. While the attempt at bridging the generational divide in theory makes for a loftier plot, A Family Affair is lacking the nuance to do either well. And so, despite King’s inherent charm, it’s her storyline that falls flat. It is difficult to be pitted up against Kidman and Efron, after all.
Nell Minow of RogerEbert.com gives the movie 2 out of 4 stars, saying Zac Efron and co. fail to improve the stale concept of a dumb, pretty famous type being lonely rather than entitled, and A Family Affair never gets anywhere close to the kind of story that would be worth fantasizing about. Minow continues:
Their relationship never meets even the low bar for a suspended-disbelief pretty-people-smooching movie. Though King does her best to be harried, anxious, and horrified, Zara’s best friends, played by Liza Koshy and Sherry Cola, are more vibrant and interesting than she is. The last section is very weak, with an unnecessary mix-up, an overdue reality check, and a zigzag into a Hallmark-channel-like cozy white Christmas. The low point is a jarring confession that seems to be intended to make the Brooke/Chris connection more believable but seems like the kind of random punch-up that Zara and her screenwriter friend would jettison.
While A Family Affair shares some of the qualities of some of the best romantic comedies, critics seem to find the Nicole Kidman and Zac Efron relationship lacking. However, if you’ve been enjoying movies with similar themes, feel free to give it a shot and draw your own conclusions. A Family Affair is available to stream now on Netflix, one of the best streaming services available.
