Perhaps it’s that we are so starved for low-stakes, adult romantic comedies that Anyone But You feels like a triumph. A similar thing could be said about No Hard Feelings from earlier this year. Both movies have foundational understanding about what makes these kinds of movies work, and it’s a recipe that’s been mostly left for dead since the meteoric rise of multiverse superhero movies. So, it’s fitting that in the same year that Marvel and Disney at large have their first fully disappointing box office year in many years, we get the reappearance of the sex comedy – films that promise raunch but actually deliver romance. Both films are also trying to revive the movie star, a change that I can fully get behind.

I’ll never watch Euphoria, but it’s array of teen actors has become a breeding ground for first-rate talent. Zendaya is already a superstar, and Jacob Elordi’s one-two punch of Priscilla and Saltburn is proof that he’s a magnetic screen presence. Sydney Sweeney’s roles often take advantage of her ample figure, but while she’s skilled in using her body to her advantage, Anyone But You not only proves that she has genuine acting chops, but also a gift for physical comedy. Her co-star, Glen Powell, got his biggest exposure last year in Top Gun: Maverick, and seems to be on the precipice of his own major star run (those of us lucky enough to see Hit Man during it’s festival run – Netflix is set to release it in 2024 – know his best days are yet to come).

Director and co-writer Will Gluck understands that the premise should be simple: if your leads are beautiful and have genuine chemistry, than all the script needs are the necessary beats to get them to the satisfying conclusion. Anyone But You is not a particularly surprising story, but it’s a better film because it understands what its audience wants and how to give it to them. It feels genuinely refreshing to see two comedically gifted actors given free reign to embrace the ridiculous details of the romantic comedy – the meet cute, the contrived break-up, the necessary separation before the inevitable coming together. Gluck obviously misses these kinds of films as much as we do, and we as an audience might finally be ready to embrace it again.

The plot is an explicit retelling of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing (not for nothing, but my favorite of the bard’s plays). Bea (Sweeney) is a law student feeling antsy with her fiancé. Ben (Powell) is a finance guy still smarting over his last break-up. When they meet in a coffee shop, the sparks immediately fly. The two of them go to Ben’s apartment and talk all night long. They don’t sleep together but she spends the night. When a collective misunderstanding (like something straight out of Frasier), disrupts their morning, their romance turns quickly into hatred, and the two vow to never see each other again. The rub is that Bea’s sister (Hadley Robinson) and Ben’s close friend (Alexandra Shipp) are getting married – and despite their collective hatred, Ben and Bea find themselves part of the same wedding party in Australia.

In an attempt to salvage the prospects for the wedding weekend, friends and family (an ensemble that includes Michelle Hurd, Dermot Mulroney, Bryan Brown, Rachel Griffiths, and the comedian/rapper GaTa) conspire to get Ben and Bea together – a scheme they both quickly figure out. It’s only when the wedding is joined by Ben’s old flame, Margaret (Charlee Fraser), and Bea’s ex-fiancé, Jonathan (Darren Barnet), that the two decide it might be a good idea after all to at least pretend to be romantically involved. The plan would keep Jonathan off Bea’s case, and it might trick Margaret into taking Ben back. Over the course of their performance, real feelings emerge.

This is not a great film, but it is an efficient and effective one. I wish it was funnier, though Sweeney and Powell do manage to pull off the film’s more outrageous comedic set pieces. Because suspense is pretty much at a zero, you’re really just left to guess what creative ways Gluck will guide the story to the ending you know is coming. I wouldn’t say the film is that innovative in that regard either. But Sweeney and Powell do have genuine chemistry, which makes the film genuinely sexy and creates the necessary stakes – there’s tension because the audience has a vested interest in them being together. If contemporary romcoms are missing anything, it’s the chemistry that exists even when the characters are at odds. Anything But You has that, and wouldn’t you know, sustaining that for an entire film can cover up a lot of flaws.

 

Directed by Will Gluck