With 2023 producing incredible movies such as Barbie, Oppenheimer, and The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, I had very high hopes for Anyone but You. Directed by Will Gluck, this romantic comedy tells the story of Bea, played by Sydney Sweeney, and Ben,  played by Glen Powell, as they quickly go from lovers to enemies in the aftermath of their first date. After finding out they will be attending the same wedding in Australia, the two make a plan to act as the perfect couple in order to keep the spotlight off of them on the big day, despite their feelings of resentment toward one another.

 I have to admit that for roughly the first 20 minutes of the movie I was very bored. The plot was not as captivating as I had hoped and the chemistry between Sydney and Glen was rather stale. However, as the movie continued, I began to laugh hysterically. I had known beforehand that the plot was romantic and comedic, but I had not anticipated just how funny it would be. I highlight this point because I do not typically laugh much at comedies, especially romantic comedies, so I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the dialogue in that aspect. With this being said, the humor was one of the only aspects of the movie that I enjoyed. 

Though the plot developed more successfully toward the end of the movie, it was incredibly predictable and unoriginal. The ending of the guy getting the girl has been done well many times, but the lack of chemistry between Sydney and Glen made it extremely difficult for me to keep a straight face during their flirtatious scenes at the end of the movie. I believe that I would have enjoyed the movie infinitely more with a different casting of Bea, as I feel that Sydney did not fit the role. 

Although having some flaws, I did enjoy “Anyone but You” as a whole, mainly because of the fact that it made me laugh so hard at some points that I was crying. I would recommend watching the movie with friends rather than family as it is rated R for a good reason.