If I were to describe the new Netflix rom-com "A Family Affair", starring Zac Efron and Nicole Kidman, in just one word, that would be easy: awkward. This film is exactly the kind of predictable and cringey experience you think it's going to be going in. Efron plays an arrogant big-shot movie star who treats his assistant (Joey King) like garbage. So much so that she quits and confides to her wealthy writer mom (Kidman) for help. When the movie star realizes the error of his ways, he goes to apologize to his ex-assistant.
When he learns she's not home through her mom, the star and the mom start hitting it off to the point of becoming romantically involved. Yes, readers. Let that sink in for a moment. The idea of Efron and Kidman as a romantic couple. Now you know what I mean when I say this is awkward. Forget any mention of the #MeToo movement that this film tries to make to be self aware. Because it still tries to keep going with this. Her daughter discovers them and is naturally furious after all she's put up with.
The movie star tries to apologize for his affair by promising to promote her and take her back. For no reason whatsoever that I can comprehend in this day and age other than money, she agrees to it. What ensues from here strictly abides by the typical cookie cutter rom-com formula that's been done a million times before and better. This includes the stereotypical breakup and immediate rebound around the third act, even though it makes no sense in this case. We're not given a reason to root for Efron and Kidman's relationship to work.
When the daughter spends most of the running time disapproving of her circumstances and trying to discourage this affair from continuing, it doesn't make sense for her to change that course. To be honest, the film should've ended after 15 to 20 minutes when she quit working for him. And yet the film insists on being an hour and a half longer just so someone gets their money's worth. Even with Efron and Kidman together, it would've made more sense to end the film 15 to 30 minutes earlier, to drive the right message home.
As it is however, "A Family Affair" feels like a byproduct of a couple distinct goals that shouldn't be mixed together and yet they are anyway in such a lackluster manner. I feel bad for Joey King, seeing that the only films I saw her in are this and "The Princess" (2022). The latter was also at best a below average film that didn't really need to be made. But if it makes her feel better, she's been the best thing about both films, especially here. Granted, her character makes questionable decisions just like everyone else in this narrative.
But King is the closest thing to a sensible human being in this film. Recently, I discussed my first experience with Jessica Alba via "Trigger Warning". I must make another similar confession in that I've never seen a film starring Zac Efron before this. And on account of this film, there's probably a good reason for that. Something about Efron feels very off to me here. No, it's not just the character he plays and how glaringly inconsistent his character is. He's normal when with Kidman, and not when he's alone with someone else, namely King.
What bothered me about Efron is how miscast he seems to be in his role. Anyone who likes Zac Efron solely on his appearance might want to avoid this film. Though it's my understanding that Efron suffered an injury prior to filming this, he still doesn't feel right. It feels like either someone created a mask to look like Efron and put that on or AI generated Efron's face onto a stunt double. Regardless, his character as executed feels stiff as if a stoned alien secretly took over. It feels like a disservice to Efron rather than a benefit.
Even though Kidman has questionable material to work with, she does bring a credible tenderness to some scenes that prevent the story from being any worse. The creepiness of the love story aside, the rest of the subplots aren't that intriguing either. I don't give a lick about how his film career is going. It's very standard cliches regarding the film industry itself. A director that doesn't speak English. Sequelitis keeping our movie star at bay. The kind of subjects the average person won't care about.
It's not everyday that you see a New York City themed film set in a typical California film studio. That at least makes sense as opposed to going to NYC all the way from Hollywood, which they could've tried. But between all the showbiz talk and discussions about how many types of Oreos are in a grocery store, the film's dialogue and humor did absolutely nothing from me. This reeks of desperation, as if this script was worked on at the last minute and submitted in a hurry. It doesn’t feel like that much effort was put into this project.
"A Family Affair" is only a little more competent than the last Netflix film I watched, "Trigger Warning", but not by much. There are a few tidbits of competency sprinkled here and there, but it's not enough for one to overlook such a by-the-numbers experience. Metaphorically, the rom-com is already an endangered species in the film industry as it is, and "A Family Affair" does nothing to fix that.
Final Verdict: 4.5/10
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