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“Anybody However You” joins a subgenre of romantic comedies the place the problem isn’t a lot bringing the couple collectively, however discovering inventive methods to maintain them aside. Principally, this fun-in-the-sun romp in Australia (as a result of hey, it’s summer time there) serves as a showcase for Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell, who amiably meet the calls for of the train even when the script solely sometimes follows swimsuit.
Sweeney and Powell’s Bea and Ben meet very cute on the outset, spending a heady evening collectively earlier than she runs off, leaving him confused and offended, and he or she quickly overhears him dismissing her to his buddy in an act of bravado.
Flash ahead, and his good friend (“Tick, Tick… Increase!” star Alexandra Shipp) is marrying her sister (Hadley Robinson) at a vacation spot wedding ceremony in Australia, forcing the 2 to spend time collectively regardless of the lingering hostility over their somewhat skinny mix-up. What’s extra, the marriage celebration contains Ben’s ex (Charlee Fraser), whereas Bea’s meddling dad and mom (Dermot Mulroney and Rachel Griffiths) desperately need her to fix fences together with her outdated boyfriend (Darren Barnet), forcing the 2 right into a sort of uneasy alliance to attempt to maintain all the skin noise at bay.
As directed by Will Gluck (who made a earlier foray into this style with “Mates With Advantages”) – who shares screenplay credit score with Ilana Wolpert – none of that is significantly convincing, however nor does it actually have to be. The chemistry between Sweeney and Powell works, they definitely make for an interesting billboard, and there are a number of broad laughs, the one large one involving a very ugly and intrusive Australian spider.
Principally, “Anybody However You” represents an intriguing instance of profession administration, with Sweeney – who has expressed frustration with the extent of tabloid consideration she generates, from dialogue surrounding nude scenes to her household’s politics – branching into romantic comedy after serving as HBO’s “It” gal in “Euphoria,” “The White Lotus” and the spare film “Reality.” For his half, Powell will get to exhibit a softer aspect after his straight-arrow turns in “Hidden Figures,” “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Devotion.”
As a playful closing-credit sequence makes clear, that is the sort of film that basically serves as vacation counterprogramming – with its R score, geared toward a barely extra grownup crowd – a perhaps-dated concept that properly sums up the character of the train.
At one level, Ben is described fondly as a “beautiful fool,” which is principally what’s required to make one thing like “Anybody However You” believable, and as he’s later informed by Bea, “We’re all in seventh grade in terms of these things” – one of many film’s few memorable traces.
Then once more, beautiful idiots want love too. You simply should imagine they want slightly assist with a purpose to discover it.
“Anybody However You” premieres December 22 in US theaters. It’s rated R.