First Take: Anyone but You - nothing fake about this ‘rom-con’

SYNOPSIS: After an amazing first date, Bea and Ben’s fiery attraction turns ice-cold… until they find themselves unexpectedly reunited at a destination wedding in Australia. So they do what any two mature adults would do: pretend to be a couple.

It has become the highest grossing romcom since Bridget Jones had her baby in 2016. Audiences haven’t been receptive to the genre for nearly 10 years. Sydney Sweeney wanted to change that. And with an extended version hitting cinemas today (well, 4 minutes of new footage) in light of its success, Anyone But You has become a film that has really punched above its weight in terms of its quality.

Will Gluck (of Easy A, Friends With Benefits… and Peter Rabbit fame), takes the directors chair on his first ‘adult’ movie since the aforementioned adventures with a certain rabbit - and it is so good to see him back making the films he is known for. Coming in at 1 hour 43 minutes in its original cut, this is a decent runtime for a comedy like this, but where the issues lie are with the script he and Ilana Wolpert have turned in. What they’ve hidden VERY well is that this is actually based on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, albeit without the complicated language, and as such, some elements are a little long winded for their own good, but on the other hand there are some charming moments which pass the 6 laugh test. It is shot pretty well by Danny Ruhlmann, and handling the music side of things, well, you can tell which audience this film is targeted at, as Este Haim scores her debut theatrically-released film with long-time collaborator Chris Stracey- plus there’s also the soundtrack too. In 2024, never has a Natasha Bedingfield song been more well used in a film - to say more will spoil the experience.

On to the cast then, and it is an understatement to say that Sweeney and Glen Powell arguably carry this film (which makes a lot of sense as Sweeney is an executive producer), making the ‘situationship’ at the heart of the plot work incredibly well, which is understandably the big USP of this release, and one which has been front and centre of all the promotional material (even the ones issued during the SAG strike). With a supporting cast that includes Alexandra Shipp, Davionte ‘GaTa’ Ganter, Hadley Robinson, Michelle Hurd, Dermot Mulroney, Darren Barnet, Bryan Brown and Rachel Griffiths, it is clear to see that this was a fun film to be involved in, and it all shows on screen- hence a box office success of $152million from a $25million budget.

THE VERDICT

Anyone But You is a perfectly fine film for a night out at the local cinema, and while some elements of it don’t quite land properly with how it is written, it is a film that has definitely found its audience since it opened in the UK over Christmas - the literal definition of a sleeper success.

RATING: 3.5/5