For teenagers everywhere, there is little respite from the seemingly unending cycle of failed talking stages, bad first dates and miscommunication. The only way to cope is through the glorious genre of rom-coms. Often associated with cheesy lines, hallmark movies and unrealistic plot lines, rom-coms are rarely taken seriously. I mean come on, even I agree that sometimes they’re too easy. But this time, for the first time in years, Hollywood did rom-coms right.
Rom-coms peaked in the ‘90s and early 2000s with “10 Things I Hate About You,” “How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days,” and “Love, Actually.” But romance didn’t start when Hollywood began to profit off of it. Real romance roots began in literature. Many of the romance movies you know and love today were based on works by renowned authors such as William Shakespeare, Jane Austen and even Nathaniel Hawthorne, which brings me to the newly released “Anyone But You,” directed by Will Gluck and starring Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell. The film, set in Australia, is a modern retelling of Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing,” following Sweeney and Powell in the enemies-to-lovers romance of our generation.
After a (slightly) realistic coffee shop meet-cute, Bea (Sydney Sweeney) and Ben (Glen Powell) go on a perfect first date, but after a ridiculous amount of miscommunication and (you guessed it!) hidden feelings for each other, their feelings quickly change from love to hatred. When Bea’s sister gets engaged to Ben’s best friend, the two are thrown into a whirlwind destination wedding across the world, falling in love in the process.
The film was very well balanced in its ratio of romance to comedy. I laughed, I “awed” along with the rest of the theater and I may or may not have shed a tear. “Who knew you could laugh so much by watching two people (who are supposedly not romantically affiliated with each other in real life) slowly and accidentally falling in love on the big screen?” asked fellow film critic Rachel Shames (V).
Sweeney and Powell brought beauty and authenticity to a generally unrealistic genre. Their relationship’s initial end but eventual progression took into account how truly unfeasible their story was but still managed to provide hope for us hopeless romantics.However, as with any film, it has its flaws. A lot of the issues could’ve been solved or avoided altogether by Bea and Ben simply communicating. Then again, since when does anyone actually say what they’re feeling?
Your feelings on the genre of romcoms will heavily influence your feelings on “Anyone But You.” Those of us who’ve seen one too many Hallmark movies will appreciate the cheesy lines and the nods to the original play. Then again, some people just don’t appreciate the romance genre. Form V student Miranda Gluck said, “In the initial reviews by professional critics there was real doubt that the movie was going to do well but it turns out that they just have no heart and took this film far too seriously.” Gluck was right; if nothing else, Anyone But You is a feel-good movie. It’s not an Oscar winner, it doesn’t have perfect writing or cinematography but it will make you laugh and sometimes that’s all you need.
