After a miserable one-night stand, Bea (Sydney Sweeney) and Ben (Glen Powell) find themselves forced back together at mutual friends’ wedding in Australia. Coerced by their families into pretending that they are in a relationship, this experience has them saying “Anyone But You.”
What can you say about a movie that’s been done thousands of times before? Can you say that the dialogue is cheesy, that the acting is average at best, that the scenarios in which the characters find themselves seem nearly impossible and far too convenient for viewers to accept? I could say all three, as they are all true of Anyone But You, but there are far more flaws present in this film than typically befall a romantic comedy similar to this.
Technically, Anyone But You is flawed from the very beginning–particularly regarding the cinematography. Again and again I found myself questioning the decisions made by Writer-Director Will Gluck and Director of Photography Danny Ruhlmann, as the camera angles typically present Bea in a series of unique, but unnecessary ways. There are often low, oddly angled shots that are entirely too close to allow viewers to get the full scope of what is occurring on screen. Bea effectively takes over the screen in moments when she doesn’t need to. The only conclusion that I can come to is that Gluck and Ruhlmann wanted to express to viewers how strong and independent Bea is, something that is made nauseatingly clear throughout the film in other ways. I found myself almost overwhelmed by these instances–and they simply don’t work.
The majority of individuals going to the theater to see Anyone But You are undoubtedly women. The storyline appeals to them more than it does most men, and Gluck, and Writer Ilana Wolpert take things a step further, upping the sexual ante from the beginning and (with the exception of a few short scenes) play with the boundaries of nudity throughout the course of Anyone But You. This team, again and again, teases viewers with the idea that either Powell or Sweeney (potentially even both) will appear on screen nude. Does a film need nudity to thrive? Absolutely not, but the reality is that Gluck and the others know that this will allow viewers to stick around (at least most viewers).
I was hoping for something to interest me throughout Anyone But You, but nothing came. Not even the soundtrack could save the film. Through a series of popular songs and techno beats, I believe that Gluck thought his viewers would appreciate what he developed in this regard–but it’s ultimately boring and misplaced. Nearly every song feels out of place, incapable of helping to develop a scene further, and what leverage Anyone But You may have had at any given moment was stolen by the soundtrack.
A middle-aged couple walked out of the theater with about forty-five minutes left in Anyone But You, and while I can’t understand paying for a film and leaving before its conclusion–I can’t say that I blame them entirely. Almost nothing about this film works. It follows the same algorithm that thousands of romantic comedies have followed for years, one that is old and tired, and that drastically needs an update. Anyone But You fails to be funny, it fails to deliver any sort of emotion, and it ultimately fails to entertain. Sadly, Anyone But You might be the worst thing that I’ve seen so far this year–but that means that from here on out, the only way to go is up.
Directed by Will Gluck.
Written by Ilana Wolpert & Will Gluck.
Starring Sydney Sweeney, Glen Powell, Bryan Brown, Dermot Mulroney, Alexandra Shipp, Rachel Griffiths, Darren Barnet, Hadley Robinson, Charlee Fraser, Michelle Hurd, GaTa, Joe Davidson, etc.
⭐⭐⭐½/10 = WORTH THE RISK, BUT YOU’VE BEEN WARNED
