The Reel Review
After an amazing first date, two commitment-phobic individuals let misunderstandings and insecurities turn them into enemies. Two years later, at a destination wedding in Australia, and with their exes present, their spark is rekindled after they decide to play along with scheming family members trying to force them together to make peace. Glen Powell (Devotion, Top Gun: Maverick) and Sydney Sweeney (Euphoria) star in this deception-filled rom-com.
Director/co-writer Will Gluck (Friends with Benefits, Easy A) smartly keeps the focus on his two distractingly beautiful stars who are at their best in the quiet, more intimate moments. Their comedy – less so. That said, there are several truly hilarious, laugh out loud moments. They are just mired in a lot of corny, contrived scenarios and overacting.
As rom-coms go, the predictable Anyone But You is cute but only a bit above average, overstaying its welcome by a good 15 minutes. Rachel Griffiths, Dermot Mulroney, Bryan Brown and Alexandria Shipp help move the annoyingly convoluted story along, but oddly enough, where the film shines brightest is in its delightfully fun closing credits, a modernized throwback to the 1997 rom-com My Best Friend’s Wedding.
REEL FACTS
• Glen Powell will next star with Daisy Edgar-Jones (Where the Crawdads Sing) in the 2024 tornado disaster film Twisters, a sequel to the 1996’s Twister which starred Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton.
• Anyone But You is a reunion for Dermot Mulroney and Rachel Griffiths, who appeared in 1997’s My Best Friend’s Wedding.
• Anyone But You director Will Gluck’s daughters Alexandra and Taryn appear in the film.
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