Anyone but You (2023)

Directed by Will Gluck. Starring Glen Powell, Sydney Sweeney, Davionte Ganter, Alexandra Shipp, Hadley Robinson, Charlee Fraser, Dermot Mulroney, Rachel Griffiths, Joe Davidson, Darren Barnet, Bryan Brown, Michelle Hurd. [R]

In this rom-com very broadly inspired by Much Ado About Nothing, misunderstandings and fanciful complications turn into formulaic clichés and contrivances. A random coffee shop meeting followed by an impromptu day-long date ends badly for Ben (Powell) and Bea (Sweeney), but as “luck” would have it, their sisters are engaged to be wed in Australia, which means the two leads are forced to spend time with each other again in the days leading up to the nuptials. Making matters worse, each of their exes are going to be attending the wedding, so they hatch a scheme to pretend to be romantically involved in order to spur jealousy in his former mate and close the door on her one-time partner. Had the screenplay been developed with wit and gusto, it’s possible Powell and Sweeney would have been a match worth swooning for (they’re each exceptionally photogenic, at the very least), but since they never seem to truly lust for or despise each other, they’re more like good friends or longtime romantic partners who enjoy trading barbs. Any hope for the supporting cast to save the merely serviceable central pairing gets dashed pretty quickly—it’s an anemic lot which even old pros like Rachel Griffiths and Dermot Mulroney (as Bea’s out-of-touch parents) can’t redeem—and with the outcome being predictable, it’s all about the journey, the chemistry, and the jokes, and you couldn’t be closer to the middle of the road on all three counts if your feet only touched double yellow stripes. Sweeney earned an executive producer credit, a career-first.

49/100