Anyone But You

In cinemas now

The commercial success of Anyone But You is perhaps more a testament to the enduring appeal of the romcom than the quality of Will Gluck’s contemporary Much Ado About Nothing adaptation. Nonetheless, a box office gross of more than $151 million (from a $25 million budget) is not to be sniffed at.

Despite its conventionally uncomplicated narrative, there is an engaging lightness to Anyone But You that is befitting of the heavyweights of its genre stablemates. Gluck’s Friends with Benefits has long been a guilty pleasure of mine and this has the same effervescence about it, the sort that makes you forget (albeit briefly) how problematic the attitudes of its characters are.

On that note, there isn’t a lot to like about Glen Powell or Sydney Sweeney’s romantic leads, but their sexual chemistry is convincing enough to allow you to look past that, with the film keen to showcase both actor’s physical assets rather than their dramatic prowess.

Above all else though, Anyone But You is deserving of a thumbs-up for reintegrating Natasha Bedingfield’s forgotten classic ‘Unwritten’ into public consciousness. With Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s ‘Murder on the Dancefloor’ still enjoying its Saltburn-inspired revival, one can only wonder what Noughties hit will be resurrected next.