A heartfelt comedy loosely based on Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing”, “Anyone but You” is an hour and forty three minute rom-com starring Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell, which was released on December 22nd, 2023.
The movie follows Beatrice (Bea) and Ben’s love-hate relationship after spending one night together where something goes wrong. As the movie progresses we watch them navigate their relationship as they are unexpectedly reunited for a destination wedding.
Immediately following the release of the movie, a TikTok trend started of people skipping through movie theater halls to the song “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield, a song frequently used in the movie.
Despite the trend, the movie received a fair share of bad reviews. Several of the reviews say the movie falls short of being a romance or a comedy. Others noted that the movie tries too hard to be funny, and that the actors had no chemistry. Many reviews stated the movie was okay but not comparable to any classic rom-coms such as “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days”, “Pretty Woman”, and “10 Things I Hate About You.”
Contrasting with the bad reviews, a notable amount of good reviews were given. The good reviews noted the movie had everything you may want, ranging from a good plot line to amazing characters. JulesReviews says people who go to the theaters nowadays don’t know how to have fun at the movies. Many people who left bad reviews strongly disliked the main actor’s performance, while others who enjoyed the movie said they really enjoyed the actors selected for these roles. One content creator specifically mentions the male lead and how his performance and how the actor proved his worth, along with saying that nobody could make him hate Sweeney.
I think the actors’ performances were excellent. Only once did I feel like the chemistry wasn’t present–in the scene where Ben was helping Bea out of the car. Since the actors were trying to portray two people in love the scene was filled with tension. On the flip side, there were some amazing scenes where the chemistry was through the roof, like when Bea eats the grilled cheese while it’s still hot and Ben blows into her mouth to cool it down for her. Although their performances weren’t terrible, there wasn’t anything extremely notable. They just did what was expected of them as actors.
A confusing part of the movie is that the timeline between the night Bea and Ben spend together and the week of the wedding is never made clear. There was no transparent answer of whether it was two months apart or two years apart. Having it be two months apart makes the most sense, seeing as I don’t think anyone would hold a grudge like that for two years over someone they spent one day and one night with.
As far as the development of the plot, some scenes were completely useless to the movie, specifically the ones where Ben’s ex-girlfriend is topless or completely naked for no apparent reason. There seems to be a common theme with Ben’s ex being naked because she strips her dress off to put out a fire that could have easily been put out with one of the many drinks people were holding. Another example of unnecessary nudity is when Ben strips because a spider was in his pants. These scenes did nothing but waste time when the main characters could have been on screen or more time could have been spent developing the plot.
Along with scenes not making sense, other scenes felt out of touch. For instance, the scene with the couple swimming out to the boat together when one of them could have easily stayed on shore. Another instance of this happens when Bea climbs on Ben’s lap while they are on the flight to Australia. The same goes for the scene where they both leave the wedding. Who leaves a wedding because they need space or to go find someone? Most people don’t just up and leave a wedding, especially when the bride is their sister which was happening in Bea’s case.
However, I did enjoy the banter between the two leads throughout the movie. The conversations give their relationship a more realistic feel, like when they’re on the plane going back and forth with each other, or when they’re arguing during the game of charades. The tension is high when the two chat in the club, making it a very interesting scene–to the point I couldn’t peel my eyes off the screen.
The supporting characters in this film captured my heart. The storylines given to those individual characters were what solidified my interest in the side characters. Those storylines made me more interested in the side characters than the main plot line of the movie at times. There were the classic dumb characters which were on an outstanding level, the stressed ones, the oblivious ones, etc. There were multiple times where it felt like I was watching the movie just to see what would end up happening with the side characters.
My final rating of “Anyone but You” is a 7.5 out of 10. I enjoyed the majority of the movie but some little details knocked points off for me in the end.
