I have sometimes been called a film snob by people in my life and admittedly I can have some film snobbish takes. I will be sending those people this review so that they can see I still love a good old fashioned romantic comedy too!
Generally speaking, romantic comedies are my guilty pleasure. Some can rise above and be movies I genuinely love and also think are great like Crazy, Stupid, Love, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and 40 Year Old Virgin to just name a few. But a lot of rom-coms also are incredibly formulaic. While I always hope a rom-com will reach for a higher gear, I’m also happy with some likeable leads and actually funny jokes. Anyone But You is about two incredibly hot people in a “will they or won’t they” romance. We may have been here before, but is this destined to be a date night classic? Read on!
My Thoughts
Anyone But You stars Glen Powell as Ben and Sydney Sweeney Bea. After a fateful encounter and a great first date, tragic miscommunication leads them to sour on each other. Some time later though they are brought together again during a destination wedding where they pretend to be the perfect couple for their own personal reasons.
I was definitely game for this movie after seeing Glen Powell in Top Gun: Maverick. He has “movie star” written all over him and so starring in a rom-com felt like an inevitability. I haven’t seen anything Sydney Sweeney has done, but the secret sauce to a good rom-com is some good looking leads with chemistry and these two definitely managed to check those boxes.
So far we’ve established that the movie was the “rom” but what about the “com”? Well I’m happy to report that this movie got steady chuckles out of me! I had a good group with me for this one, including Graham, Bethany, Connor, Shannon, and Jennifer and everyone seemed to have a good time with it too.
The movie was directed by Will Gluck who also made Easy A and Friends With Benefits, so he has experience with rom-coms. It’s been a while since I’ve seen either of those movies, but I think I liked this one the best. This is mostly due to the cast though, because the big criticism I have is with the script.
I know that it’s a rom-com but this one was incredibly standard in terms of the plot beats and I found the central conflict between the two leads to be so artificial that it only makes sense in a movie. Sure it’s “just a rom-com” but there are still good and bad ways to do them. This isn’t so bad that it frustrates you when you watch it or anything, but it was definitely the weakest part of the movie.
The cast definitely makes up for any shortcomings with the script though and their charm and likability make this one work!
Verdict
If you also love your rom-coms or you’re just looking for a fun date night movie, definitely give this one a chance! It won’t blow your socks off with its originality, but you’ll have fun with Powell and Sweeney. One thing is for sure though, Powell has it and studios need to start putting this guy in everything immediately.
Adriana Wiszniewska