2023 had a lot of new movies, but arguably one of the best was Anyone But You released on December 22, 2023. The movie was very good overall with a good plot, soundtrack, and cast. It balanced comedy and romance and earned 3.6/5 stars on Google reviews. The main characters of this movie are Glen Powel playing Ben and Sydney Sweeney playing Bea. It was filmed in Sydney Australia with the movie showing the Sydney Harbor and Sydney Opera House. This movie is in high competition with No Hard Feelings as best rom-com of the year, but Anyone But You may be chosen by audiences as best rom-com of the year since they have a more recent release date.
Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney are both pretty famous from their roles in Top Gun and Euphoria which garnered lots of support for their upcoming movie. Glen Powell has also been in another rom-com on Netflix’s Set it Up. Many viewers of that movie probably went out to see Anyone But You since the movies are similar in nature. There were also many rumors that two co-stars were dating which again helped boost sales and advertise the movie. This was fueled by things like Glen Powell breaking up with his long time girlfriend and Sydney Sweeny’s fiance seen leaving their house with a suitcase. Audiences were also convinced they were dating by the behind the scene photos since the actors had so much chemistry together.
The plot of this movie follows Ben, played by Glen Powell, and Beatrice (Bea), played by Sydney Sweeney, who have their “meet-cute” in a coffee shop and spend the day together. After that day they end up as enemies over a miscommunication. However, they are forced into proximity when Bea’s sister Halle and Ben’s best friend’s sister Claudia get married. They had been known to fight when they saw each other and Halle and Claudia did not want them to ruin the wedding. This is when Claudia said there was a “fine line” between love and hate so she suggested setting them up to keep them from fighting. Both of their exes also showed up at the wedding giving them an incentive to fake date. Ben wants to make his ex jealous and get back with her but Bea wants to show her parents that she is moving on from her ex. A really important part of this film is when Bea says that the reason she broke up with her ex is because there was too much comfortability in the relationship and nothing ever changed. This is shown to be very different in her relationship with Ben because although they fought it kept their relationship exciting. Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney have good chemistry together helping with the nature of this film and keeping the audience engaged.
The nature of their relationship in Anyone But You is why it is rated R for more mature audiences. This was done to appeal to an audience that appreciates more crude humor. Many older rom-coms stayed in the PG-13 rating so in that way it cannot be compared to movies like The Notebook, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, and She’s the Man. These classic rom-coms will always be on a different level because they were original and no one had seen movies with this now classic tropes. Whereas many modern films recycle and reuse old tropes making audiences bored with seeing the same things happen only with different casts. Another important thing to consider is that this film was not part of a franchise and was not based on a book. Being a completely original film is very hard to do well but the writers were able to create a witty banter that has not been seen in many other films especially rom-coms.
The soundtrack was chosen well including 2004’s “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield which has skyrocketed 156% since being used in the movie, according to Billboard. This was the key song of the movie being played or sung several times and played during the credits. It’s popularity has also increased greatly on social media platforms like TikTok. Other songs included were “Didn’t I” performed by Darondo, “The Spins” performed by Mac Miller, “Photo ID” performed by Remi Wolf and Dominic Fike, “Sick” performed by Dominic Fike, “The Vacationer” performed by Hungry Kids of Hungary, “Bang Bang” performed by Hippo Campus, “Steppin’ On Me performed” by Fitz and The Tantrums, “Sympathy” performed by Declan McKenna, “Dummy” performed by Portugal. “The Man, Got Me Started” performed by Troye Sivan, “Anyone But You” performed by Still Woozy, “Loving You “performed by Wet Leg, “Connecting Dots” performed by Kate Bollinger, “Outta My Head” performed by Mel Wesson, “Lancaster Nights” performed by Charlie Burg, “Bottle Rocket” performed by Jimi Somewhere. Overall, the song choices reflected the movie very well and created a very uplifting and comical mood for the movie. This movie was great for many newer artists like Dominic Fike and Troye Sivan growing their popularity. The one interesting thing about this movie is not only did it use some new songs, the directors also chose to include some older very popular songs. This definitely helped with the movie’s popularity as many people recognized songs they loved in the movie.
Overall, this movie was very well done and will leave its mark as one of the better modern rom-coms. This movie has helped Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney expand their careers and it will be exciting to see what their next projects will be. Anyone But You is definitely a must watch from the list of movies released in 2023.
