Anyone But You is a rom-com starring Sydney Sweeney and Glenn Powell. The movie follows Bea (Sweeney) and Ben (Powel) have to fake a relationship to appease their friends and family at a wedding. In typical rom-com fashion, they hate each other after one meeting but come to love each other by the end.
Anyone But You on paper, is just another romantic comedy that has been done thousands of times. There are tropes and cliches aplenty and it’s clear that it’s just trying to get from point A to point B. The surrounding cast isn’t super spectacular and some people do not give a good performance around the two leads. Yet this movie is still incredibly enjoyable.
The chemistry between Powell and Sweeney is legit. Remember all the rumors surrounding this movie and public breakups after details had come out about filming? While clearly it was overblown, the main takeaway was how strong the chemistry was between Powell and Sweeney. They are so good at subtly expressing their affection for each other with their eyes and body language. Yes, they’re both beautiful but they do a good job at selling it beyond the surface-level attraction.
Top Gun: Maverick was my first Glenn Powell movie but the movie that made me like him so much was the 2018 rom-com Set It Up with Zoey Deutch. There he plays an overworked but cocky assistant who works with Deutch’s character to set up their bosses so they can have more free time. His character is very similar to his in Anyone But You and he plays so naturally. I also believe he is just so naturally charismatic that he will end up with great chemistry with just about anyone Hollywood casts him with.
The other element that made this movie enjoyable is the humor. It was very funny most of the time, and the best jokes outweigh all the jokes about Powell being a “fuck boy”. Powell and Sweeney play off each other well and set each other up for fun little one-liners.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Anyone But You is really fun. It’s a typical rom-com with two very attractive leads but they have incredible chemistry with each other. It’s a great movie to watch with others and have fun with.
