Enemies-to-lovers might be one of the most well-known tropes in the romance genre, but it’s also one of the hardest ones to pull off right. Anyone But You feels like it’s going to stumble, but the romantic comedy manages to pull off the win in a surprisingly charming and rewatchable movie.
The fact that the movie works shouldn’t be as shocking as it is. Glen Powell has a proven romantic comedy track record and as awkward as his character Ben’s meet-cute with Sydney Sweeney’s Bea is – and trust us, awkward is a nice word to use to describe it – the chemistry is apparent. If the movie ends up being surprisingly decent it’s because the trailer and promotional material for it sold it with a focus on the awkward instead of the charming.
Never judge a book by its cover or a movie by its trailer, they say.
Powell and Sweeney do work, and though Anyone But You is a times predictable, it’s never quite as predictable as we expect it to be, which works in its favor. In fact, the movie takes care to make fun of our expectations by mocking the whole Much Ado About Nothing vibes, and then turning them on its head.
Ironically, for an enemies-to-lovers romance, the movie also never commits the cardinal sin of being “too mean,” which is often the death kneel for the trope. There’s a fine line between enemies because of a misunderstanding, as is the case with Ben and Bea and enemies for a good reason that shouldn’t actually be resolved. We should just stay enemies forever.
There’s also a fine line between being annoying to each other and just being plain mean in a way that you can’t take back, and Anyone But You never really goes that far. Sure, Bea makes fun of how little cardio Ben does, but that feels like something even a friend would make fun of. And yes, he gets some digs in as well, but he’s never actually trying to hurt her, just trying to get a rise out of her.
Plus, Ben does jump out of that moving boat to “rescue” her. There is that.
The supporting cast in Anyone But You is also rather delightful. They’re all in on the joke with the viewers in a way, and it’s often hilarious to see them navigate everything that happens with Bea and Ben – who are clearly not in on the joke – as the two move towards the inevitable conclusion.
Sure, some of the contrived things that happen make no sense and others are solved way too easily. Plus, everyone is way too happy considering the mess Ben and Bea make of things at the beginning – not to mention the last-minute guest. And no, this isn’t the best or the most original version of this trope you will ever see. But who cares? It’s a pretty decent rom-com, and all is well that ends well.
And end well it does, with the boy who doesn’t do cardio running to get the girl. Who said fairy tales don’t have a happy ending?
Anyone But You is now out on DVD and Blu-Ray, and if you missed out on this one on theaters, we’re going to recommend you take the time to watch it now, from the comfort of your own couch. In fact, it was probably worth the wait. If you like the genre, you might end up wanting to watch it more than once.