Anyone But You
Few rom-coms aim toward true to life. Even fewer manage to have something to say at all. But, for a story very loosely based on Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing," it's painfully un-ironic how much nothing "Anyone But You" really is.
After a perfect first date followed by a (you'll never guess) misunderstanding, Bea (Sydney Sweeney) and Ben (Glen Powell) become mortal enemies. However, when a destination wedding in Australia brings them together again, they decide to get their family and friends off their case and pretend to be a couple.
I don't know, maybe I caught Sydney Sweeney (in the upcoming Madame Webb) on a bad day, but this was one of the most monotone performances I have ever seen. I can't help but feel, though, she may have been sabotaged playing Bea as a tough, cool girl by an unfortunate directing choice because the very beginning of the movie's meet-cute is undeniably sweet and adorable. Opposite Glen Powell (Top Gun: Maverick) as Ben who manages to bring some heart to a pieced together script, Sweeney's performance is more than a little distracting.
Although it's hard to blame her entirely; the script written by Ilana Wolpert and Director Will Gluck doesn't do her character, Bea (nor anyone else) any justice, for that matter. Borrowing from Shakespeare's "Much Ado" plot, Ben and Bea both overhear their friends and family saying how much they love each other, but are too afraid to say anything. Then, the plots diverge as Ben and Bea realize they're being played, but decide to con the wedding party instead (They don't know that we know they know we know).
In a better script, that story could work. It's a fun play on the whole "bring a fake relationship to the wedding to get your family of your case" plot. But the way "Anyone But You" goes about it saps any tension right out of the plot. These are just mostly underdeveloped side characters we're playing a joke on and I don't know them so I have a hard time caring. Frankly, there's just "nothing" here besides random Frankenstein'd rom-com tropes.
For example, one of my favorite writing rules is Chekhov's gun. Roughly translated: if you mention a gun hanging on the wall in the first act, you better well shoot that gun in the third one. HOWEVER, the asterisk to this rule is it only works if your house is decorated like a hunting lodge. If you live on a set that looks like it was designed by an Airbnb superhost, people gonna assume you're definitely insane and someone will, in fact, be murdered later.
...if you mention a gun hanging on the wall in the first act, you better well shoot that gun in the third one. However [this] only works if your house is decorated like a hunting lodge.
One of the first scenes in "Anyone But You" features a wrench, prominently displayed on a shelf. Bea turns to Ben and asks what it is and he responds that it was given to him by his mother to remind him that anything broken can be fixed. As an audience member, I'm thinking, "yeah, wow, very deep, can't wait to learn more about his relationship with his mother who must have been a mechanic." And that wouldn't be a crazy thought except the wrench NEVER COMES UP AGAIN. Why is it a wrench? How did Ben move on after his mom died? Did he at all? Also, why a wrench? There's also a random ATM machine with ropes around it sitting in his apartment that Bea points out, which also doesn't get brought up again (I AM SO CONFUSED; IS THIS NOT A RED FLAG?).
My main problem with these dropped references is how it shows up in Bea. Her character is struggling to find her way in life and wrestling with what she actually wants out if it. She's studying to be a lawyer, but doesn't really want to be one. Her parents want her to be with her old boyfriend, but she doesn't care all that much for him. And the script just stops there. No depth, no character arc to speak of, and thus, no real reason for me to care if she does get what she wants by the end of it.
I can't say I expected anything too much out of a rom-com (although it makes me sad to say that). I did hope I'd at least get a competently put together script with a couple who had something resembling chemistry (I mean, it's fine, but despite the gossip surrounding the "Anyone But You" production, I was even disappointed there).
I neglected to purchase the travel insurance so my first trip to the movies in 2024 was not worth six dollars. Likely, I'll end up rewatching "Set It Up," an infinitely better and much more moving rom-com with Zoey Deutch and Glen Powell, that did, in fact, have something to say.