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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nNot every week brings a shiny new blockbuster for me to review. Sometimes I need to look to the holdovers. Sadly, I\u2019m not referring to \u201cThe Holdovers,\u201d one of the best films of 2023 that you should definitely check out if it\u2019s playing in your area. I\u2019m referring to whichever movie did the best at the weekend box office that I haven\u2019t already reviewed, even if it isn\u2019t that new and didn\u2019t do that well. This week that movie is \u201cAnyone but You,\u201d which came in fifth place at the domestic box office in its sixth weekend. While much better Christmas releases like \u201cThe Color Purple\u201d have slid down the chart since the holiday season, this one has managed to stay in the top five. It has actually made more money than any movie to open in 2024, but that\u2019s with a multi-week head start. However else I feel about the movie, I can understand its consistent performance, as its tone is a light and agreeable one that makes it a good compromise movie for couples and groups of friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The movie, based on Shakespeare\u2019s \u201cMuch Ado About Nothing,\u201d follows attractive singles Ben (Glen Powell) and Bea (Sydney Sweeney) as they have an adorably awkward meetup in a coffee shop that turns into a date. Clearly they both want a romantic relationship, but the prospect scares them, so they sabotage what they have. They try to forget about each other until Ben\u2019s friend Claudia (Alexandra Shipp) gets engaged to Bea\u2019s sister Halle (Hadley Robinson) and they\u2019re forced to be around each other for the wedding in Australia. And yes, it\u2019s the kind of lavish movie wedding that will make everyone in the audience feel insecure about their own ceremony, or lack of one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since even the other characters can see that Ben and Bea are perfect for each other, most of them spend the weekend trying to play matchmaker. The two get so annoyed that they reach a truce and agree to pretend to be nauseatingly enamored just to get everyone off their backs. Even if you\u2019re not familiar with the play, you\u2019ve probably seen enough romantic comedies to know where this is going: their pretend banter will turn into real banter, which will lead to real feelings, which will lead to a real relationship, which they may or may not sabotage all over again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the story so predictable, it\u2019s up to the film\u2019s humor to save it, with mixed results. Powell and Sweeney have undeniable chemistry and charm. I see bright futures for both of their careers, which hopefully means getting smarter scripts than this. The film makes the curious decision to take an R-rated route that I think makes it less endearing. I\u2019m not saying that light, romantic comedies can\u2019t be R-rated (off the top of my head, \u201cWhen Harry Met Sally\u2026\u201d and Judd Apatow\u2019s late-2000\u2019s hot streak come to mind, and I don\u2019t see those movies working without some R-rated elements), but this movie\u2019s crudest jokes aren\u2019t its best. With a PG-13 rating, it could have reached a wider audience that I don\u2019t think was worth sacrificing for some ill-advised \u201cedginess.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnyone but You\u201d is bland and corny and the characters are idiots. Yet I have to admit that I was somewhat sucked into the movie by its end, largely owing to its absolutely correct assertion that \u201cUnwritten\u201d by Natasha Bedingfield is a perfect singalong song. Just don\u2019t mistake this begrudging affection for the real affection I have for much better movies like \u201cThe Holdovers.\u201d See that one instead if you can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grade (for \u201cAnyone but You\u201d): C<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And while I\u2019m here, Grade for \u201cThe Holdovers: A-<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnyone but You\u201d is rated R for language throughout, sexual content and brief graphic nudity. Its running time is 103 minutes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Bob Garver Not every week brings a shiny new blockbuster for me to review. Sometimes I need to look to the holdovers. Sadly, I\u2019m not referring to \u201cThe… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":59119,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[108],"tags":[2630],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59118"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59118"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59118\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59120,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59118\/revisions\/59120"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}