{"id":3740,"date":"2024-08-29T03:32:46","date_gmt":"2024-08-29T03:32:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=3740"},"modified":"2024-10-14T12:32:15","modified_gmt":"2024-10-14T16:32:15","slug":"anyone-but-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/08\/29\/anyone-but-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Anyone But You"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Anyone But You<\/strong> (2023)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Columbia\/Comedy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 103 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (language throughout, sexual content, brief graphic nudity)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Will Gluck\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Ilana Wolpert and Will Gluck\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Este Haim and Christopher Stracey\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Danny Ruhlmann\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: December 22, 2023 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Sydney Sweeney, Glen Powell, Alexandra Shipp, GaTa, Hadley Robinson, Michelle Hurd, Dermot Mulroney, Rachel Griffiths, Darren Barnet, Bryan Brown, Charlee Fraser, Joe Davidson.<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ***<\/p>\n

\u00a0There was a time when you could check the listings at your local multiplex and there would always be at least one rom-com among the offerings. Nowadays, with the rise of Netflix and other streaming services, they\u2019re far and few in between. Nobody wants to pay $20 a pop to see a light, frivolous movie that doesn\u2019t demand to be seen on a big screen. Can\u2019t say I disagree; most rom-coms are small screen affairs. Still, it\u2019s nice to have a date movie option for potential couples looking to start their own romance.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The last true rom-com I recall seeing at the cinema is the George Clooney-Julia Roberts vehicle Ticket to Paradise. That was a little more than a year ago. It\u2019s been a long wait, but rom-com addicts can finally get another fix with Anyone But You<\/strong>, a cute and crude update of Shakespeare\u2019s Much Ado About Nothing. It stars Sydney Sweeney (Euphoria) and Glenn Powell (Top Gun: Maverick) as star-crossed lovers Bea and Ben. When they meet-cute in a Boston coffee shop, she\u2019s a law student and he\u2019s a finance guy at Goldman Sachs. They hit it off right away and have a great first day-into-night together. A couple of miscues the next morning lead to them parting ways on acrimonious terms.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Skipping ahead, Ben and Bea find themselves in each other\u2019s proximity at the wedding of her sister Halle (Robinson, Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty) and his best friend\u2019s sister Claudia (Shipp, X-Men: Apocalypse). Everybody\u2019s been invited to stay at the home of Claudia\u2019s parents in Sydney, Australia (yes, the dreaded destination wedding!). Naturally, Ben and Bea can\u2019t stop bickering. Each one blames the other for how things ended between them.<\/p>\n

\u00a0In order to ensure the wedding goes smoothly, the others devise a plan to try and get B&B together again. They see right through it, of course, and come up with a scheme of their own. They agree to act as a couple so that (a) her parents (Mulroney and Griffiths) will stop nagging her to get back together with her ex (Barnet, Never Have I Ever) and (b) his ex (Aussie model Fraser) will become jealous and want to get back together. It takes some doing, but they manage to convince everyone they\u2019re a couple. Then the inevitable happens; they really do fall in love. What is it they say about best laid plans?<\/p>\n

\u00a0One of my favorite rom-coms of the 90s (a great time for the genre) is 10 Things I Hate About You, a high school-set retelling of The Taming of the Shrew. Anyone But You<\/strong> is just as enjoyable. Directed by Will Gluck, who did a nice job with his Scarlet Letter update Easy A, repeats his success with this genuinely funny modern take on the Bard\u2019s 16th<\/sup> century rom-com. It has some great verbal jousting and physical comedy. An early scene involving Bea and a sink-related accident in the coffee shop bathroom is a highlight that allows Sweeney to show off her comedy skills. This is the first time I can recall seeing her in anything. I like what I see here. She\u2019s like a young Melanie Griffith, equal parts ditzy and smart. She\u2019s smart enough to be in law school, but still can\u2019t remember to not eat a grilled cheese sandwich straight from the pan. Sweeney pulls it off perfectly. She is a star-in-waiting.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Sweeney has terrific chemistry with co-star Powell who somehow manages to make his finance bro character likable. His character acting like a \u201cf*** boy\u201d is just that, an act. It\u2019s his defense mechanism against getting hurt again; he\u2019s vulnerable but gender dictates don\u2019t allow for a man to actually admit it, so he goes into d-bag mode whenever feelings start to surface. Powell nails it just as deftly as his co-star. They are really good together.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The rest of the cast, especially Mulroney and Griffiths (who also appeared together in My Best Friend\u2019s Wedding, another great 90s rom-com), provides more than ample support. Rapper-actor GaTa (FXX\u2019s Dave) is good as Ben\u2019s best friend Pete. He has a funny scene opposite a koala bear. Don\u2019t worry, no harm befalls the cute animal. Bryan Brown (F\/X) and Michelle Hurd (Law & Order) are good as Claudia\u2019s parents. Shipp and Robinson have nice chemistry as the brides-to-be. The whole cast just comes together nicely right up to the very end when they all join together in an end credits performance of the pop hit \u201cUnwritten\u201d by Natasha Bedingfield.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Anyone But You<\/strong> does indeed earn its R rating. While it\u2019s not Farrelly Brothers-level crude, it has a few eyebrow-raising moments. The good thing about the humor here is that it\u2019s never mean-spirited. The movie is sweet in its own way. Sure, Ben and Bea dislike each other through a lot of it and say things that aren\u2019t nice, but none of it is below the belt (unless you count a hit in the groin). There\u2019s no intent to humiliate or retaliate, just insults and angry words. That makes me happy. I am so tired of comedies made unfunny by mean-spiritedness.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Okay, I will concede that Anyone But You<\/strong> is totally predictable right down to the final grand romantic gesture that makes everything okay. I don\u2019t care and neither should you. This movie is a delight to watch. The gorgeous Australian scenery certainly doesn\u2019t hurt. I left the theater with a smile on my lips. That hasn\u2019t happened in a long time. I can\u2019t think of a better Christmas present.\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anyone But You (2023)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Columbia\/Comedy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 103 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (language throughout, sexual content, brief graphic nudity)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Will Gluck\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Ilana Wolpert and Will Gluck\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Este Haim and Christopher Stracey\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Danny Ruhlmann\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: December 22, 2023 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Sydney Sweeney, Glen Powell, Alexandra Shipp, GaTa, Hadley Robinson, Michelle Hurd, Dermot Mulroney, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4458,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-comedies"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Anyone-But-You-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3740"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3740\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4459,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3740\/revisions\/4459"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}