Nicole Kidman was yearning to make a romantic comedy. The Oscar winner wanted to shift course after playing a tragically depressed housewife in the miniseries “ Expats ” on Prime Video. She wanted to have a good time.
She wanted Hollywood, for once, to send a rom-com script her way. When she received the screenplay for “ A Family Affair, ” Kidman leapt at the opportunity to shed her dramatic persona and take on lighter material. In the Netflix film, premiering Friday, she channels Brooke Harwood, a widowed mom and award-winning memoirist with writer’s block.
Brooke’s 24-year-old daughter, Zara ( Joey King ), still lives at home while working her thankless day job as an overworked personal assistant to Chris Cole (Zac Efron), a vain and insecure movie star who threatens to fire her over the slightest mistakes. One afternoon, Brooke unexpectedly encounters Chris, who’s 16 years her junior, and the physical attraction is instantaneous. It eventually blooms into real love, angering Zara; she worries that Chris will break Brooke’s heart just as he has with past exes.
But Brooke is not just any woman. She’s got wisdom that comes with age, and Chris’ global fame as the star of a superhero franchise means nothing to her. Instead, she sees the playful, loving man within him.
And he truly values her, body and soul, and gives her something to write about again. ( Is it getting hot in here? ) Kidman, 57, and Efron, 36, previously played lovers in 2012’s “ The Pape.