Is Anyone But You Really the Best Rom-Com of Recent Years? Let’s Find Out
Finally, Anyone But You has arrived in cinemas, the much-talked-about romantic comedy starring Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell which won over American viewers during the 2024 Christmas holidays. Anyone but You, the original title of the feature film, right from the start trailer has captured the attention of lovers of love stories but not only. Thanks to the cast involved, the film managed to arouse the curiosity of even those who loved Top Gun and Euphoria, this is because the two protagonists are among the main stars of the famous projects just mentioned. Unfortunately, however, the numbers speak for themselves and, for some years now, love stories have no longer made the money they once did on the big screen. For this reason, many majors end up directing their films to streaming. It’s the arthouse blockbusters that have the upper hand at the box office, the space for romantic stories is truly always already limited.
Anyone but You is the exception that proves the rule. Not only has it made and continues to make dollars at the American box office, but word of mouth on social media has launched the film into the Olympus of end-of-year hits, so much so that even in Italy the public started dancing to the tune of Unwritten even before the film made its theatrical debut. But is the hype justified? Is Anyone but You really the best rom-com of the last 10 years? Or are the Americans the ones who overestimated the film? All you have to do is continue reading our article to find out whether the film is worth it or not and to delve into every hidden detail regarding the Anyone but You phenomenon.
Anyone but You Deserves It?
Now that we Italian spectators can finally see the much-talked-about love film distributed by Eagle Pictures and produced by Sony Pictures on the big screen, the time has come to decide our opinion. All the hype that American viewers had generated on social media to the point of decreeing Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell’s romantic comedy as the best of the last 10 years and deserved it?
Yes but…
The writer had the pleasure of viewing the film on the day of its debut, noting that the American influence has also reached our homeland. The room was packed with people. A mixed audience, even if predominantly female, affects the fact that romantic comedies have no gender. The public was enthusiastic about the story but perhaps they let themselves be carried away by the fun and fascination of the two protagonists. The film deserves all the media attention it has received and is still receiving from abroad, but it is not perfect. It’s fun, at times hilarious but not excellent. This doesn’t mean that the writer didn’t like it, but that Anyone but You is not the magical product that was painted overseas, although it remains a very valid product.
The Pros and Cons of Anyone But You
It’s easy to say “It deserves BUT…” it’s more complicated to justify such a judgment. Since we firmly believe that the film is worth watching but is not excellent, here we are to analyze for you, obviously without any spoilers, the pros and cons of Will Gluck’s new romantic feature film. The tooth is gone and the pain is gone. If the screenplay for Anyone But You had delved even slightly deeper into Bea and Ben’s backstory, the film would have been truly perfect. What is missing to make the much-loved film excellent is the development and three-dimensionality of the characters. We meet the protagonists in a bar and see them spend a night together, but we are never introduced to their lives, except for a few brief references. We know that Ben works from home and carries out some unspecified job that has to do with advanced IT and perhaps with the black market, while Bea, on the other hand, attends law school in Boston but is not anything convinced to continue on that path. That’s all we know about them, other than the fact that they fall in love at first sight.
The attraction is undeniable, but complicity and alchemy are immediately established between the two which goes beyond the physical aspect. In essence, it was real love at first sight which was also reflected in character affinities, at least on a very first date. It’s a shame that following misunderstandings and unspoken words, the two end up not seeing each other again until after 6 months due to a wedding involving their respective relatives. To be more precise it concerns Bea’s sister and Ben’s best friend. Unfortunately, the film does not make up for the lack of information regarding the past lives of the two protagonists, it mentions something regarding Ben’s mother, but it is too superficial. Even though Bea’s family plays an important role in the story, we don’t learn crucial information that lets us discover what the girl is like and the reasons for her total indecision about practically anything. We can only guess that she has always had a perfect and predefined life and when she realizes that perhaps this life was too narrow for her, and was not what she really wanted, she begins to doubt everything.
There is a lack of three-dimensionality and depth for two characters who have charisma to spare and an innate sympathy but who are perhaps also very similar. By the performers’ admission, Bea and Ben were written in a mirror image and even if Ben appears more libertine than Bea, this is not the case. Furthermore, this womanizing quality of Glen Powell’s character is never shown throughout the film. The lack of depth regarding the origins of the characters causes the two to like each other but perhaps they don’t know each other fully. All this limits the viewer’s ability to empathize with the two protagonists. Another Achilles heel of the film is the resolution of the argument between the two: essentially there is no real reason why Bea and Ben aren’t together halfway through the film. This is because basically, the story wants them separated but without providing a valid reason other than the unspoken continuations.
In essence, Anyone But You cannot be called the best rom-com of recent years given that films like Set It Up, Love, Rosie, Ticket to Paradise and The Hating Game are superior. We don’t even dare mention the iconic rom-com like Leave Me Without Me, The Proposal, and Notting Hill. Without these elements, which in any case are really important and have an impact on the final judgment we can give to the film, the film is a really good romantic comedy.
The attraction between the protagonists is evident at first sight and the much-rumored chemistry between Sydney Sweeny and Glen Powell is real. The two actors are perfect to act as a couple. They seem to have known each other all their lives but in reality, this is not the case as they only met shortly before production of the film started. Such chemistry is rare and is the result of great work done by the production so that the two performers felt fully at ease on set. So in fact it was as everyone involved in the cast of Anyone But You declared that the film crew had become their second family; also thanks to the fact that the film was shot in Australia, a land not native to the cast.
The writing of the secondary characters is really intelligent: they are present and explored correctly without being intrusive. With the few details that are provided to us, we can immediately distinguish various characters and remember them perfectly even after the end of the film. Could it be that they are all really very ironic and comical, even if not all in the same way? Maybe, the fact remains that they are really pleasant and represent an excellent plot side dish. Very often in romantic comedies, the stories of the non-central characters are unappealing, boring, and repetitive, but in this case, they are an excellent distraction.
The movie is truly hilarious and entertaining. It’s impossible to leave the theater after watching Anyone But You without laughing out loud at least one or two lines or gestures from the characters. The fun is genuine, healthy, and not forced. The laughs are drawn from simple actions, jokes that perhaps were even improvised by the cast, and not from vulgar or outdated expressions. The film is so lively, self-ironic, and in step with the times. There are several clichés, like any good self-respecting romantic comedy, but what emerges is an attempt to revisit the usual stylistic features. We remind you that the story is freely inspired by Shakespeare’s play “Much Ado About Nothing”, so a minimum of classicism must remain. Furthermore, several jokes are the result of Easter eggs made by your protagonist actors and refer to their previous projects.
The soundtrack of the film characterized by the song ” Unwritten ” by Natasha Bedingfield, dated 2004, was not chosen at all by chance and has a very important role in the story and the construction of the relationship between the two characters. Don’t be surprised if the song is now back in vogue and very viral on social media. The fashion of the early 2000s as well as their romantic comedies are making a comeback.
The Anyone But You Phenomenon
Even before its debut in American cinemas, Anyone But You was already one of the most talked about films of 2023 on the web. The reason? The obvious chemistry between Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell. The two actors have been photographed time and again by the paparazzi on the set of the film and the shots have left room for speculation. The theory emerged among fans that the two actors had established a real romantic relationship. Was the film Galeotto then? No! Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell are not a couple, or at least they are no longer a couple and it was they who declared it during the interviews released for the promotion of the film, during which they defined themselves as excellent friends. We will never know if something happened during the months of filming in Australia, the fact is that Powell’s girlfriend left the actor.
In any case, all this pure gossip, also fueled by the two actors who shared many clips and photos from the set of the film, has done nothing but fuel the hype. When Anyone but You arrived in American theaters on December 26, it was already one of the most loved films by young girls who were passionate about rom-coms, simply because they loved the chemistry between the two performers. The success of the film, thanks to the growing fame of the Euphoria actress and the Top Gun: Maverick actor, was therefore predicted but no one expected similar results. With a budget of just 25 million dollars, Anyone but You achieved over 100 million dollars in less than a month, of which only 65 million in the United States. The film is therefore a huge success, such a triumph that it could justify a possible sequel.
Great credit must be given to social word of mouth. As soon as they left the theaters, American viewers started making videos to the tune of Unwritten, thus starting a trend that pushed more and more people to watch the film. The public’s enthusiasm was contagious, so much so that some TikTok users ended up wanting to see the film over and over again in the cinema just so they could share their enthusiasm on social media. This is an unprecedented or almost unprecedented phenomenon about romantic comedies distributed in cinemas. Will this be the right time when the majors to decide to focus on low-budget love films capable of capturing the public’s attention? Perhaps thanks to the Anyone But You phenomenon, the era in which rom-coms are continually mistreated and destined for the small screen will end. Who knows, we can only wish for an increasingly bright future for love films. Cinema also needs light and funny stories that can take the audience’s mind off things and give them great laughs.
