“High School Musical” came out at precisely the wrong time for me to care about it. My kids weren’t old enough to want to watch it, and I was definitely not the target demographic, so I missed Zac Efron’s rise to stardom. He was largely off my radar until last year when he starred in one of my favorite movies, “The Iron Claw.” After watching Richard LaGravenese’s “A Family Affair” on Netflix, I’m now beginning to wonder if I was sleeping on Efron’s career this whole time.
Zara (Joey King) works for Chris Cole (Efron) as his assistant. Zara puts up with unreasonable demands, constant threats of being fired and helping him break up with countless women because Chris has promised to help her become a producer. One day, Chris takes things too far and Zara quits. Chris heads to her home, where Zara’s mother, Brooke (Nicole Kidman), is working. The two of them begin to talk and quickly realize they have a strong attraction to one another. Now, Zara wants to protect her mother from becoming yet another in a long line of broken hearts.
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this movie. The characters are well-written. The dialogue is funny and thoughtful. It manages not to take itself too seriously while not simply being a mindless piece of background content while you scroll on your phone.
The performances are all well done. Kidman is always fantastic and I loved seeing her in this role. She manages to capture a woman who has lost her husband and has felt stuck following that, while also being excited by this new relationship. King is great as the somewhat self-absorbed young woman who can’t see past her own issues, but who does still care about the people in her life. And Efron shines as the love interest, managing to strike a perfect balance of someone who is used to being catered to but who wants to be taken seriously both in the industry and in this relationship.
The story is a perfectly normal “opposites attract” tale, but it also manages to address things like finding love when you’re older. It also tackles the feeling of wanting to be seen as a woman, not just a parent, and struggling to see beyond your own legitimate frustrations and worries. The themes and stories presented in this film are thoughtful without being heavy and without interfering with the overall fun of a pretty standard rom-com.
I often find myself frustrated by the machine that is more interested in producing content than entertainment. I largely expected “A Family Affair” to be more grist for the mill. Instead, we were given a thoughtful, funny movie that is absolutely worth both your time and your attention. You don’t have to put your phone down to follow this one, but you may want to anyway.
Alise Chaffins is a Morgantown writer who loves movies and sharing her opinions. She reviews a movie from a streaming service every Saturday and one newly in theaters every Sunday. Find more at MacGuffin or Meaning on Substack.
