In a sea of cinematic cynicism where we constantly feel we need to reinvent or subvert conventions, what's so wrong with playing it by the books? What's so wrong with sincerity? Sincerity is almost to the point of saccharine to some people, which is why I'm thankful for directors like Will Gluck to deliver such a shameless, genuine, and sweet romantic comedy. As Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powel lead us through this modern spin of Much Ado About Nothing, I was reminded of some of my other favorite rom-coms, specifically 10 Things I Hate About You which is based on another Shakespeare romance. 

 

As the film follows Sweeney And Powell after a post-fling misunderstanding. At odds with each other, however, her sister, and one of his best friends are getting married. So, they must make peace for their sake; though their friends and family are plotting to drive them closer together. Very much like the Shakespeare comedy - even sprinkling in small quotes directly from the play- it's the perfect recipe for a romantic comedy. Powell and Sweeney really sell the charm of the whole film - while the supporting cast behind them are still quite funny, there's a great draw between these main two. Creating a certain electricity only a small number of romcoms really get, Will Gluck manages to really make this stand out with a lot of memorable hilarious bits with beautiful sets. 

 

The film drops us in a luxury Sydney, Australia getaway - from the opera house to the poisonous spiders, it felt like Anyone But You was actually treating its location more than just a vacation spot for the actors. It manages to capture its sweeter movie moments in Sydney’s most beautiful views, and Gluck uses these locations to make the moments feel even bigger. Not to mention the film is wonderfully raunchy. It takes advantage of its R rating to actually get a lot of great adult humor in there, however, there's a part of me that wanted the film to take a bigger step over the line to sex comedy like this year's Sanctuary had. 

 

Anyone But You was surprising. Not only was it actually proving that this genre can still very much be fresh and fun (along with this year's Sanctuary and No Hard Feelings), it's a genuinely very sweet and hilarious film that loosely adapts a Shakespeare classic and harkening back to the film genre's classics. Sweeney and Powell are hilarious leads, and I hope both come to do more of these kinds of movies.