Star Cast: Sydney Sweeney, Glen Powell, Alexandra Shipp, Darren Barnet, Michelle Hurd, and Bryan Brown
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Director: Will Gluck
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What’s Bad: The dialogue and jokes are cringe-worthy and belong to the era of raunchy comedies like American Pie
Loo Break: There are many, especially if you are not in the mood for uncomfortable s*x scenes.
Watch or Not?: Watch only if you are a fan of raunchy humor or you really want to see a romantic comedy in theatres.
Language: English
Available On: Theatrical release
Runtime: 103 minutes
User Rating:
There was a time when romantic comedy was king among genres, you could find countless options in cinemas, and because they were cheap to make, they became the option for studios to get a quick profit besides horror movies. However, with the arrival of streaming services, the genre became a straight-to-digital affair, and now it is a weird thing to see movies like these arrive in theaters. Anyone But You is the movie that will try to bring the genre back on the silver screen.
The proliferation of streaming services such as Netflix and Prime Video has made the romantic comedy genre an easy content mill, and you can see how every single year, dozens of new rom-coms get released on these services only to disappear from people’s attention as fast as they appeared. It is truly a shame that an entire genre has been reduced to such low standards, but sadly, Anyone But You might not be the genre savior everyone was waiting for.
In order to achieve the savior title and get romcoms back in theaters, Anyone But You should be doing something new and fresh, something that will make people realize that the genre is worth more than they thought and that these types of movies are theatre-worthy experiences, as theatres have as of late become places where you watch special movies. Anyone But You doesn’t do any of that; instead, it just uses the same old tropes that have plagued the genre for decades.
It is true that the movie decides to work on the American Pie school of comedy, which means there is a lot of raunchy comedy here and there, as well as tons of hot scenes starring our beautiful protagonists, but having such a beautiful pair just isn’t enough. For a romantic comedy to really stand out, it doesn’t have to be only funny, but also emotional, and do something else with its story than the simple template that has been used for decades.
Once you start watching Anyone But You, you know exactly how it will end, and while some people find comfort in knowing exactly what is going to happen, for some audience members, not having any sense of discovery or revelation will make the movie as boring as a movie can be. The character work is not bad, but it is the bare minimum to consider these people’s characters instead of just walking ideas.
However, most of the character work when it comes to the secondary characters is severely missing. Many of the great romantic comedies have a cast of supporting characters that become fan favorites, for being cool, helpful, or just plain adorable. Anyone But You doesn’t have that kind of secondary cast, which is a shame as Alexandra Shipp, who is quite talented, deserves so much better on screen.
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Anyone But You is the Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell’s show, and both actors are at the peak of their visual splendor. Anyone But You’s production team has really managed to sell the actors as a beautiful couple, and they really look great together. Sweeney knows she is gorgeous, but she is also a solid actress, as we have seen in HBO’s Euphoria and her roles in movies like Reality. In this film, she does her best, but this is not a memorable role.
Powell is in the same role; he could be the source of all charisma on this planet, and even when his character is not the best behaved, you cannot be angry at him for too long. Powell could become a huge star, but this movie might not take him there.
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Will Gluck is not known for making quality films, and his best work might still be 2010’s Easy A starring Emma Stone. Gluck’s work in Anyone But You is the most standard cinematic affair you have seen this year; he follows the template as closely as he can, and sadly this doesn’t allow for cool new things to happen on screen. The movie also has this overlit look that many movies in the genre feel the need to have, and everything ends up looking overproduced and simply boring.
The movie knows that it is doing the same old thing and doesn’t try to hide it, so at least there is that. For fans of the genre, the movie will result in just what they expected and probably a fun movie to have. However, for those looking for the genre to take the big next step that it needs to take to remain relevant, this movie will not give you that.
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Anyone But You is a tiresome and very familiar romantic comedy that might not save the genre from its streaming grave; it will all depend on the box office. However, in terms of quality, this movie is just like the hundreds of romcoms you have seen before. If you need a movie that will bring you that kind of feeling, then yes, this is a must-watch, if you are tired of the genre, it would be best to avoid this movie.
Anyone But You was released on 22 December 2023.
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