Anyone But You is the romantic comedy of the year, not only due to the hype surrounding the leads, Sydney Sweeney (Euphoria and Madame Web) and Glen Powell (Top Gun: Maverick), but also because of the criticisms it has received regarding the narrative.
Directed by Will Gluck, the story depicts how, after an incredible first date, the attraction between Bea and Ben cools down until they unexpectedly reunite at a wedding in Australia. They then do what any adults would do: pretend to be a couple.
Despite all the success it has had among young adults, it mostly fails to convince critics with its love and heartbreak story inspired by William Shakespeare‘s play “Much Ado About Nothing”. Nevertheless, check here when it will be available for streaming…
When is ‘Anyone But You’ online?
Anyone But You has had its big digital release, but now it’s time for it to find a home on one of the most popular streaming giants. The popular rom-com will be joining Netflix‘s catalog on April 23, 2024, a few months after its theatrical release.
It was one of the most anticipated movies by the audience and it’s still available on VOD for purchase or rental through services like Prime Video, Vudu, Apple TV and others in the United States.
Will Gluck talked about the chemistry between the protagonists
During an interview with Above the Line, the director spoke about creating the project that now shines among the titles in the romance genre but emphasized the chemistry between the rom-com’s protagonists, Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell.
“Honestly, the chemistry I saw between Syd and [Glen]… people always talk about chemistry, that crazy word, but the first time Sydney arrived in Australia that Sunday, straight from Italy after filming her movie ‘Immaculate,’ which is this Italian Vatican movie. She came to Sydney on Sunday, they sat where we were staying, and they started rehearsing, and in about a minute, I thought, ‘Oh my God, thank God. This is amazing,’ and nothing else mattered except these two, and then we got to work”, Will Gluck confessed.
Later, when asked about the script he co-wrote with Ilana Wolpert, he spoke about sharing the film with both actors and the back-and-forth he had regarding the story. There, he confessed:
“I heard there was a script that Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell were attached to, and I always wanted to work with them. I called them and said, ‘What’s going on with this?’ We all met, talked for a long time, and then said, ‘What if we do this? We’d like to do it this way.’ So we all joined hands and did it the way we wanted, and we got to work. Everything came together pretty quickly“.
Glen Powell talked about romantic comedies
Emma Baty from Cosmopolitan conducted an interview with the actor who portrayed Ben in the romantic comedy. He spoke about his experience with the genre (with which he is no stranger, having acted in several) and how he feels about participating in this type of projects.
There, she asked Glen Powell about his feelings regarding the current state of this type of production, and he confessed:
“The romcom has now mostly gone to the streamers, which is completely fine, but I think it’s taken away from the cinematic theatrical part where we don’t just buy this as comfort food.
The romcoms you and I grew up on were actually great movies. I watched My Best Friend’s Wedding the other day and it’s so fun. It’s things like that, where you’re not just making a romcom because that’s a genre that needs to fill out a piece of an algorithm, but putting care into into it”.
What did the critics say about Anyone But You?
The criticism received by the new romantic comedy has been diverse, and some of the writers working for major outlets such as Variety or IndieWire have been quite harsh but objective.
David Ehrlich wrote for IndieWire: “Anyone But You may not be funny or memorable enough to make romantic comedies matter again as a genre, but it might bring us a little closer to that goal precisely because it doesn’t burden itself with that objective. This is nothing more than old-fashioned frivolity with freshly created stars and a luxurious supporting cast“.
Owen Gleiberman wrote for Variety: “In many ways, it’s as prefab as many romantic comedies from the ’90s and ’80s, but there’s something spicy and invigorating in how it channels the anti-romanticism of the Tinder-meets-MeToo generation“.
