ANYONE BUT YOU | MOVIE REVIEW | LYNNMALL

I’ve noted a tendency towards cynicism in the rom coms of recent years. An awareness that the genre is somehow fundamentally silly, and an overwhelming need to demonstrate that they’re in on the joke. Initially, this served as a welcome counterpoint to the saccharine offerings of the 2000s, but in an increasingly irony-poisoned world it began to grate. I know I’m not alone in this observation.

Anyone But You strike an impeccable balance; there’s just enough absurdity, enough of a wink and a peek behind the curtain (the speed of Beau swimming, the dog being called Klonopin…), to keep it fresh, but it never makes fun of itself. It’s not afraid to be earnest, and sweet, and a little predictable, and it’s all the better for it.

Sweeney and Powell have fantastic chemistry, to my admitted surprise. Even better, they have comic synergy; a true greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts pairing.

8.5/10

– Anna Faulkner