Directed by Will Gluck. Written by Ivana Volpert and Will Gluck
Polished to a high gloss, Anyone But You is the now rare romcom that does want to do both, indulging silliness and sugary sweet romance in a fulfilling take on an almost timeless premise that makes good on it without taking it further. You don’t always have to break the mold, filling it in will do just fine – that’s why we have molds in the first place.
Bea (Sydney Sweeney) and Ben (Glen Powell) share one unforgettable day and night together before an unfortunate misunderstanding makes them hate each other. As fate would have it, people in their lives are getting hitched, forcing them back into each other’s orbit, and in order to not pour cold water on the wedding weekend, they decide to play nice, with the added motivation of potentially getting back with their exes through subterfuge.
Siphoning its creative juices from Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, Anyone But You coasts along on the comedy of misunderstandings and romantic tension of antagonism so that its two lovebirds can run hot-cold-hot-cold-hot long enough for us to beg for satisfaction, even if the outcome is never in doubt.
Gluck’s movie is a classic people pleaser in every sense of the word. Good-looking people fill out the cast, paradise Australian getaways provide the backdrop, and magical wealth ensures a frictionless existence for all in this bubblegum romcom bubble. The supporting cast makes no demands so that Bea and Ben can make the world revolve around them, and we can fall into the groove of make-believe.
You probably have a good idea of what you’re getting with Anyone But You and I can tell you your premonitions are right. This is a romantic comedy by the numbers, but it’s thankfully an unpretentious affair. The genre has fallen out of favor to some extent, and any attempts at resurrecting it has often come with a tired cynicism. Gluck’s movie does have a twinkle in its eye, but not to the point of being annoying, just enough to let you off the hook and go along for the ride.
All of it starts with Sweeney and Powell, who are more than willing to let themselves be the butt of the joke, a lot of times literally in the case of Powell, who has that uncanny ability that defines stardom: being able to sell anything. He can do it with the slapstick that prides a lot of Anyone But You, and then he’ll turn around and remind you why he’s worth drooling over, even if you take away his fighter jet body.
Volpert and Gluck’s script does lean towards silly rather than clever in its comedy and that does reduce some of its characters to googly-eyed buffoons that don’t seem fit to live even in this suspended reality. Its cleverness is mostly contained in the barbed back-and-forth that Powell and Sweeney deliver with pace, and everything else takes the shape of shenanigans you dismiss with an eye-rolling “you silly goose.”
The essentials are in place, and it carries the movie over its actual rough patches that are a lot of the technical work. From awkward editing, which sometimes makes dialogue feel like two people fighting each other for the handlebars on a tandem bike, to absolutely lifeless set design that has everything looking like a pharmaceutical ad. The high-intensity wattage of the movie’s stars provide enough of a distraction from all this, thankfully.
This is silly stuff, but we take ourselves too seriously these days, and a lot of people are going to return to Anyone But You an unholy amount over the years because of the mindless comfort it provides. That doesn’t mean it’s a great piece of art, but it is an endorsement.
Mikkel Frederiksen 