Anyone But You 2023 Movie Review

"Anyone but You" has gotten bad reviews. I hesitated to see it, but see it I did, and I'm glad I did. I loved it. I laughed out loud throughout the film. I was touched by the central relationship. I enjoyed the Australian scenery and the light and breezy tone of the film. The leads are gorgeous and they scamper about in minimal, or no, clothing.
 
Even so, there's very little sex and you could watch this movie with a mother or a daughter. Glen Powell radiates bemused charm. Subtle quotes and a few comic bits scattered throughout the film allude to Shakespeare's "Much Ado about Nothing."
 

The whole cast seems to be having a good time. Dermot Mulroney, as the father of the bride, is very funny in his intense commitment. GaTa and Bryan Brown are adorable as heavy handed and all too obvious plotters.

 

"Anyone but You" begins with a very believable dilemma. Bea (Sydney Sweeney) needs to use a bathroom in a coffee shop. Ben (Glen Powell) rescues her by pretending that they are together, so she can occupy his place at the front of the line, and gain quick access to the bathroom key. They click and spend the night together, but it's purely platonic. A misunderstanding ensues, and they end up hating each other. They are invited to a destination wedding in Australia, and the other guests, just like in "Much Ado about Nothing," conspire to get them together.

 

I cared about their relationship from that opening scene. I laughed at the physical comedy and the hijinks. I was touched by their easily bruised egos and fear of intimacy. There's a highly unlikely scene where they fall into water and are rescued, and Bea soothes Ben by singing a song she knows he likes. Bea's tender care for Ben touched me.

 

Romantic comedy / travelogue films like this are not supposed to be realistic except in the broadest sense. We all fear intimacy when we sense that we are vulnerable to someone who is not as taken with us as we are with them. We all have to feel our way and take risks to find the right person.

 

Is the movie realistic in that we have perfect bodies like this movie's stars? Or live in super slick apartments and do morning ab crunches on spotless Australian beaches? No. That part is pure escapist entertainment, and I loved it.

 

What could have been better? Ben is a great guy, and the plot gives Bea ample reasons to fall in love with him. Bea is a bit more complicated. She comes across, in Sydney Sweeney's performance, as depressed and lost. Sweeney, as Bea, doesn't smile much and she doesn't have a north star. She doesn't know what she wants to do with her life. If these two get together, this viewer worried that Ben would have to devote his life to cheering Bea up.

 

Bea's mother was a meddling PITA and I wished the  movie had delivered a pie in her face, or something. Claudia and Halley, the couple whose destination wedding Bea and Ben attend, are undeveloped and uninteresting. The movie's ending is forced and overdone.

 

Maybe this film deserves more of a seven out of ten stars than eight out of ten stars, but it was just what I needed on a dark winter's day, so I'm giving it eight, and also to make up for the totally mean-spirted negative reviews from Grinches who can't appreciate the light hearted fun, charm, and physical beauty "Anyone but You" serves up in ample supply.