Anyone But You

I knew from the trailers that I would love this. But if I'd known it was a "Much Ado About Nothing" retelling, I would've gotten around to watching it way sooner. It took me until about a quarter of the way in, but then all the names and Shakespeare quotes made sense. I loved the clever callbacks to both the play and the 1993 movie, from the overdramatic conversations overheard in the garden to the leads even looking a bit like Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh. This had me grinning from ear to ear. And my goodness, the credits had me cackling. I will never listen to "Unwritten" the same way again.

I went to see this movie because I am a sucker for a romantic comedy, even the average ones (and let's face it, most of them are). Having seen the trailer, I had low expectations, yet this film still managed to come it at an even lower level.

Boy meets girl, they hit it off briefly, there is a misunderstanding and when they reconnect through a friend/family wedding, they hate each other. Except as anyone could predict, ultimately they don't really, but it takes an eternity of inauthentic, puerile dross to get there. No tissues needed here.

The acting is generally average to poor, and local actors like Rachel Griffiths and Bryan Brown (much of it filmed in Australia) do the minimum required, and are completely wasted here. The script is juvenile, facile and has little in common with reality. The direction is pedestrian and much of the movie is a travel ad for Sydney. Throw in plastic, unlikeable characters and a healthy dose of gratuitous nudity. The attempts at comedy are almost laughable as that, and what little romance eventuates at the end fails to convince after nearly two hours of tripe beforehand.

Not recommended, even if you are a fan of the genre.

They really did make a whole movie just to show off Glen Powell's smoking hot body and honestly - I'm here for it!

The storyline and the acting is... wait, who cares?? Glen Powell is shirtless about half the time.

This is a movie about two people who fall in love only to find out that... Glen Powell's body is so hot!

If you watch the trailer you already know exactly what happ... Glen Powell!!

The predictability factor is super strong with this one. The cheese is sprinkled all over the movie, in every scene, there is little room left for any other ingredients because... cheese. And Glen Powell.

Glen Powell.

We've seen a million movies set at weddings before - where even the couple getting married gets invested in the main couples status. So I knew a lot of the tropes would be the same, but it was the same but a bit worse. The main couple story I actually really liked, I thought they were hilarious and cute and beat out other movies with the same storyline. It was everything else that fell short. The background characters felt cheesy and fake. All surface level gags or you didn't really get to know them, nothing felt genuine - case in point Bea's parents were incredibly unrealistic, no ones that out of touch. Even Bea's background felt half-done, never explaining why she didn't want law school.

The only reason I watched Anyone But You was because I have slowly come to appreciate Glen Powell. I wasn't expecting much, and I Didn't get much. Just imagine all of the standard rom-com tropes and you will surely be able to spot each one throughout the film. A spark on a first date, the breakup, and the back and forth will-they-won't-they until they come together in the end. "Spoiler" alert, if you didn't already see that coming. I don't know why I gave it a 6, but that's just what it felt like. Anyone But You had its share of good moments, but if Glen Powell or rom-coms aren't your thing, then there isn't much for you here.