Anyone But You – A Chemistry-Driven Romcom

Romantic comedies have seen quite the resurgence as of late, pairing the latest generation of young and beautiful people to provide audiences with a temporary escape. Regardless, their foundation still hasn’t changed. In order for said romance to be believable enough for audiences to become emotionally invested, it all comes down to the chemistry between its leads. Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell are arguably two of the biggest stars working today so it only makes sense to take advantage of that fact by pairing them together in a film and this would only work to the benefit of Anyone But You. A romantic comedy that harkens back to the classic 1990s romcoms, it puts a different spin on the genre but in the end, its derivative nature is unavoidable. Though it may be predictable, that aforementioned chemistry of Sweeney and Powell make this familiar journey a worthwhile one. The rest of the cast round out what was a solid ensemble piece. Geared towards a more adult audience, it’s 14A/R rating allows it more freedom as it certainly shows a lot more personality than more vanilla PG-13 offerings. Not only is it hilarious, it has a lot of heart. Shot in and taking place in Australia, it definitely delivers an escape, if anything else.

Anyone But You follows Bea (Sweeney) and Ben (Powell), two people who found themselves connected to one another after a seemingly perfect first date came to an end under questionable circumstances. From that point, their attraction turned into a mutual animosity for one another. Little did they know, they were more linked than they realized as they would be brought back together once again after being invited to a destination wedding in Australia between Bea’s sister Halle (Hadley Robinson) and Ben’s roommate’s sister Claudia (Shipp). Already an awkward situation for Bea and Ben, it soon got even more complicated with their respective exes showing up and bringing plenty of baggage with them. Their feelings for one another were also common knowledge amongst all of the wedding party therefore their solution to ease that friction was to try to get them together in the most unsubtle fashion. Ultimately, their response to both was to simply to pretend that they were together to get everyone else off their backs.

However, pretending to be together was easier said than done for Bea and Ben. A true showcase of the stellar chemistry between Sweeney and Powell, they were a blast to watch together as each navigated the complicated relationship between both characters. Trying to make their fake relationship believable to the others was a challenge in spite of their feelings for one another was a challenge and within that process came a fair share of hilarious moments. Meanwhile, the presence of Bea and Ben’s exes also gave them an opportunity to look back at their past relationships and how they influenced the people they became as they tried to figure out the kind of people they wanted to be. As much as their hijinks were entertaining to watch and will get most of the attention here, their underlying arcs through that silliness was just as compelling to watch. But as that fake bubble burst, some tough decisions needed to be made. Wrought with feelings, it was only a matter of time that Bea and Ben’s reconciled with their roller coaster feelings for one another as they evolved into something more.

That being said, the best part of Anyone But You, and the only thing that holds the film together, is the stellar chemistry of Sweeney and Powell. It only works if that dynamic works and their frenemy/adversarial relationship is a blast to watch and worth the price of admission alone but their range allows it to go beyond mere theatrics. Not perfect characters by any means, they had flaws that made them more relatable and interesting than their archetypal nature. Beyond Sweeney and Powell, the rest of the supporting cast all deliver strong performances in support of Bea and Ben’s saga. Unfortunately, the film only scratched the surface when it came to the other characters which is a shame.

At the end of the day, Anyone But You is anything but an average romcom. Breathing new life into the genre, it may not have anything new to the say and more or less sticks to a familiar formula but Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell both steer the ship beautifully.

still courtesy of Sony Pictures

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.