America’s most recent romantic comedy has viewers entertained
Directed by Will Gluck, “Anyone but You” was released to the U.S. by Sony Pictures on Dec. 22, 2023. It is an American romantic comedy based on William Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing.” Shakespeare’s plot line between characters Beatrice and Benedick is adapted through Gluck’s characters of Bea and Ben played by Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney. Based on the classic “enemies to lovers” theme, Powell and Sweeney have viewers grasped with their romantic performance.
Although most of the movie takes place in Sydney, Australia, the main characters are from Boston, Massachusetts. Bea’s sister is marrying one of Ben’s childhood best friends. The girl’s (Bea’s sister and Ben’s friend) wedding is in Australia and all of their family and friends stay in the same house while they are there, leading Ben and Bea stuck in the same vicinity full of hate towards each other. Bea and Ben play a trick on the rest of the family that they are in love to please everyone. They both go into the trick pretending to be affectionate towards each other while claiming to remain enemies. However, as you may assume, the two “enemies” grow to fall in love and the RomCom story unfolds.
Alex Elliott ‘24 said, “I love romcoms. They’re probably my most-watched movies. My favorite rom com has to be ‘10 Things I Hate About You.’ I would rate ‘Anyone But You’ a solid seven out of 10. It was a solid storyline and it was very funny. I give it three points off because some of the acting was very bad.”
While the movie is expected to have cheesy moments due to being a romcom, I would argue there were a couple of moments in the movie that took the comedy to an unrealistic and cliche level. In any romcom there is a line between being funny and over the top. In my opinion, if the acting becomes over the top, it starts to feel too fake. For example, there is a scene when the group goes hiking and Ben and Bea are ‘faking’ to be together. They put their hands in the backs of each other’s pants, which I felt was not realistic.
Danika Simpson ‘26 said, “[ My and Evan Kelhner’s ‘26 ] least favorite scene was the titanic scene but our favorite scene was when they were being rescued and singing the song ‘Unwritten.’”
While on a dinner boat cruise through the Sydney harbor, Ben and Bea act out the well-known “Titanic” movie scene when Rose stretches her arms out like a bird and Jack holds her at the tip of the ship. Ben and Bea think this will cause their family and friends to believe they truly are in love. Although I applaud the entertaining plot, I also feel like the act Bea and Ben put on is a cliché thing to do. When characters act to be in love it typically leads to them falling in love. This idea is shown in the movie, “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before”.
Despite these cliché moments, this movie left me leaving the theater happy and fulfilled as a good romcom does. I think sometimes ‘cliché’ plots can be the best because perhaps they are common for a good reason whether they are funny or endearing.
Simpson said, “I rate ‘Anyone but You’ a nine out of 10. There were some cheesy lines but that’s what makes a good romcom.”
Elliott said, “My favorite scene had to be the harbor scene. Where Sydney Sweeney fell into the harbor in Australia and the enemy [Ben] jumped in the save her. It showed that no matter how much he tried to hate her he still cared about her.”
The movie has brought enjoyment to many. It is light-hearted and charming. The location being in sunny Australia brings a warm and cheerful energy to the film. It is a movie where your brain does not require too much thinking and you can just relax. Those types of movies are necessary from time to time. We all can use a dose of laughter and love to lighten up life and “Anyone but You” will bring you that.
