Anyone But You (2023)
A Bizarre, AI-Adjacent Jumble of Rom-Com Cliches
Beautiful locales and an affable cast can't save a film that lacks the heart and chemistry to be truly touching.
Anyone But You (Directed by Will Gluck, 2023)
Official Synopsis
In the edgy comedy Anyone But You, Bea and Ben look like the perfect couple, but after an amazing first date something happens that turns their fiery hot attraction ice cold until they find themselves unexpectedly thrust together at a destination wedding in Australia. So they do what any two mature adults would do: pretend to be a couple.
Expanded Ensemble
Expanded Architects
Production Vault
| Motion Picture Rating | R (Language, Sexual Material, Partial Nudity) |
| Aspect Ratio | 2.39:1 (Anamorphic) |
| Production Budget | $25 Million |
| Worldwide Box Office | $220.2 Million |
| Locations | Sydney (New South Wales, Australia) |
Production Info
The movie venture was initiated following the headline cast recruitment selections finalized in early January 2023. Principal tracking protocols commenced operations in March 2023 on location in Australia, financed as a joint enterprise between Columbia Pictures, SK Global Entertainment, RK Films, and Olive Bridge Entertainment. Sony Pictures Releasing managed the primary global distribution slate.
Official Trailer
🎬 Expanded Fun Facts
- Shakespearean Blueprint: The entire underlying narrative architecture functions as an modernized, explicit structural transposition of William Shakespeare's iconic literary play Much Ado About Nothing, renaming the primary characters Beatrice and Benedick to Bea and Ben.
- Sleeper Box Office Sensation: Opening with a modest six million dollar theatrical debut weekend frame, the release mounted a legendary word of mouth run, defying standard tracking projections to clear over two hundred and twenty million dollars worldwide.
- Romantic Comedy Revivalist: Industry analysis circles heavily credited the intense audience turnout and massive profit multiplier metrics of the picture with proving to major studio distributors that R-rated romantic comedies remain highly viable theatrical commodities.
Directed by Will Gluck, Anyone But You attempts to be a throwback to the golden age of 90s and early 2000s romantic comedies. However, the result feels more like a clumsy reassembly of genre stereotypes than a cohesive story. While the production design is beautiful and the cast is undeniably "easy on the eyes," the film is missing that special, undefinable element that makes the best rom-coms effective. Despite being loosely inspired by Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, the tributes are limited to obscure callbacks that fail to ground the "ludicrous and forced" physical comedy.
"The movie feels like it was written by Artificial Intelligence. A bunch of classic romantic comedy cliches and genre stereotypes from other films have been jumbled up, reworked and clumsily reassembled into this film."— Ray Manukay
🎬 Cast & Crew
- Director: Will Gluck
- Starring: Sydney Sweeney, Glen Powell
- Supporting: Alexandra Shipp, GaTa, Hadley Robinson, Dermot Mulroney
- Studio: Sony Pictures / Columbia
The Vision
Gluck’s vision seems unabashedly focused on checking the boxes of a romantic comedy rather than simply telling a good story. By forcing silly physical jokes into a narrative that lacks genuine chemistry between its leads, the film feels synthetic. The attempt to modernize the Bard’s wit is lost in a sea of "unrecognizable easter eggs," making the proceedings feel ineffective for fans of the source material. It is a movie designed for a younger generation who might not have seen the classics, relying on "beautiful locales" to mask its lack of sincerity and believable romance.
🎬 Cinephile Fun Facts
- Shakespearean Ties: The character names Bea and Ben are direct references to Beatrice and Benedick] from *Much Ado About Nothing*.
- Viral Success: Despite mixed reviews, the film became a massive [box office sleeper hit, fueled by a viral TikTok trend involving the song "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield.
- Dermot’s Return: The inclusion of Dermot Mulroney is a meta-nod to his status as a rom-com icon from 1997's *My Best Friend's Wedding*.
✅ Pros
- Affable, attractive cast that is "easy on the eyes."
- Beautiful Australian locales and high production design.
- A successful return of the genre's commercial viability.
❌ Cons
- Lack of palpable chemistry between Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell.
- Ludicrous and forced physical comedy.
- Narrative feels like an "AI-written" jumble of cliches.
