‘Anyone But You’ Review – Glen Powell And Sydney Sweeney Save Their Stilted Rom-Com

Anyone But You is a compelling case study of nearly derailing a film by not trusting your audience. 

The film had a lot going for it from the jump. Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell sent internet tongues wagging when they were announced as the leads of the R-rated romantic comedy a year ago. The on-set photos of them frolicking across Australia were what studio publicity department (and Deuxmoi) dreams were made of. The chemistry was evident, which is all you need to get butts in rom-com seats. 

The following months should’ve been a cakewalk. Instead, Sony Pictures released a teaser trailer that framed what initially seemed like a charming popcorn delight as an off-putting, joyless drama-thriller that made Sweeney and Powell look shockingly unappealing. In a two-minute teaser, Anyone But You’s goodwill evaporated and looked like an embarrassing flop in the making. The official trailer that followed a few months later did some course-correcting, but the original lingers. It’s an instruction on the damage done when you don’t understand the appeal of a specific movie genre or you don’t think viewers understand it. No one wanted a film with two attractive, romantic leads looking miserable.  

On paper, Anyone But You delivers on expectations. Sweeney and Powell play Bea and Ben, two strangers whose meet-cute in a coffee shop blooms into a perfect 24-hour date. Personal hangups and misunderstandings blow it to hell, and the pair despises each other. They eventually cross paths again when Bea’s sister and Ben’s best friend invite them to their Australian destination wedding. For the sake of peace, the wedding party hatches a harebrained scheme to hook the antagonistic pair up, which they quickly figure out. However, the two play along for their own objectives: Bea wants her parents to quit pushing her ex Jonathan on her, and Ben wants to make his Australian ex-girlfriend Margaret jealous. Throw in a spider, koala, and several dips into the Sydney Harbor, and you’ve got a classic enemies-to-lovers tale.

Specifically, you’ve got William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, which Will Gluck and Ilana Wolpert adapted into Anyone But You. Gluck doesn’t hide the reference; he sprinkles cute but obvious visual callouts throughout the film. Oddly, Gluck is more convoluted in crafting his modern take on the Shakespearean classic. He overcomplicates a straightforward premise of enemies in a pretend relationship with obstacles that add little. Jonathan and Margaret are largely ineffectual foils, as they don’t help us understand Bea and Ben better, nor do they add urgency to their plan. They offer occasionally amusing moments, mainly via Skyler, Margaret’s scene-stealing Australian surfer fling, but they are more distractions than fully-fleshed characters.

In truth, Anyone But You can’t afford the distractions. The film struggles mightily to make its characters work on the page. None feel more than the most basic archetypes. Whatever unique traits they might possess are hampered by strangely listless dialogue. Ben and Bea, unfortunately, have the lion’s share of the worst lines, like the toothless and downright uninspired barb, “small dick insecurity.” It doesn’t help that Gluck can’t decide who either character is. Bea and Ben feel like significantly different characters from the coffee shop to their meeting six months later. Even accounting for their mutual hatred, the absence of the charming awkwardness that defined their fling is glaring. What replaces it – Bea’s indecision and her desire for riskiness, Ben’s fuckboy aspirations that hide his emotional insecurities – would be compelling if Gluck fully fleshed them out. 

Despite the narrative incoherence, Anyone But You is enjoyable when it lets itself breathe and embrace being a rom-com. Gluck knows he struck gold with Sweeney and Powell as his romantic pair. Nearly every directorial and production choice – from the editing to the costumes – ensures they always look phenomenal. The effort was a resounding success; very few on-screen couples this year looked as beautiful as they do here. The film benefits greatly from letting their pair’s natural, infallible charisma take the lead. Ben and Bea’s physical hijinks, like when the threat of a spider forces them to strip naked, are utterly delightful. They generate genuine heat, from their sultry dance on the rehearsal dinner yacht to their inevitable love scenes. Even the clunky dialogue doesn’t blunt the sincerity of Ben and Bea’s moments of emotional vulnerability.

The point bears repeating: Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell are indispensable to Anyone But You’s success. The dynamic, chemistry-rich duo grants the film much-needed personality, clarity, and exuberant joy. Their connection is evident from their first frame, and it doesn’t waver, even when the script doesn’t serve them. Their interactions are fluid and varied, capable of palpable disdain, sharp sexual tension, and sweetness. Sweeney has proven dramatic chops, and she works them out well here. (She is a beautiful crier.) She is also surprisingly adept at physical comedy, enthusiastically reaching for each ridiculous sight gag. Meanwhile, Powell essentially confirms his role as the new god of romantic comedies, with a sparkling glint in his eye that practically leaps off the screen. He hits every emotional beat thrown at him with earnest appreciation; he takes the genre seriously without taking himself seriously. 

By the time the credits roll and you’re happily singing along to Natasha Bedingfield, you might’ve forgotten Anyone But You’s glaring issues. The most significant one is its apparent discomfort with straightforward conventions. Gluck wastes time complicating a well-worn romantic trope instead of leaning in. Unsurprisingly, the film succeeds when it stops being overwrought, letting Sweeney and Powell take audiences on their silly, sexy, and swoon-worthy journey. Anyone But You could’ve been a late-breaking contender for best romantic comedy of the year. Instead, it’s a late-breaking example of the perils of not trusting your audience. It is an enjoyable film that just misses true greatness.

Anyone But You will debut in theaters on December 22, 2023 courtesy of Sony Pictures Releasing. 

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtjH6Sk7Gxs]