As a member had stated earlier, if Cianfrance did not make it clear through the writing of the film that the age gap is significant part of the character's development, then that's more of a problem with the film than the fact that a critic or multiple critics did not read the book. Audiences shouldn't be expected to have read a book before viewing a movie based on it in order to understand certain things like that. There's nothing wrong with the age gap itself (I'm personally not offended by it at all, especially when they're 10 or so years apart both in the movie and in real life), but I can see how some may not see it that way if the film doesn't make it clear why that particular gap is integral to the story. Plus, one negative review doesn't mean anything, so I'm reserving any hard judgement for now until I actually see it. However, that reviewer does bring up a good point in the sexism re: casting in Hollywood, and I could see why they may think the "older man/younger woman" pairing is cliche as it has been done to death in a way, even if it is based on a book.
