Like most of countless romantic comedy films out there, “Anyone but You” will not surprise you that much if you are your average seasoned moviegoer like me. Right from its conventional Meet Cute moment, the movie is thoroughly predictable no matter how much its two main characters dislike each other on the surface, and you may be tempted go along with that for a while, as appreciating the good chemistry between its two lead performers who deserve better materials considering their considerable charisma and talent.

At first, we are introduced to Beatrice “Bea” Messina (Sydney Sweeney), and the opening scene shows how this young pretty woman comes across Ben (Glen Powell). When she needs to take care of her imminent bladder problem as soon possible at a coffee shop, this handsome lad generously gives her a little unexpected help, and this rather silly situation leads to the first date between them although they do not know anything about each other as two total strangers.

In the end, Bea and Ben’s date eventually culminates to one wonderful night between them, but, of course, there comes a little problem between them. Mainly because she recently broke up with her ex-boyfriend, Bea is not so sure about whether she can continue to meet Ben, and her following impulsive departure certainly lets him down. Quickly regretting about her thoughtless action, she returns to Ben’s residence, but then she changes mind again when she overhears what Ben says to his best friend about her.

Of course, Ben and Bea come across each other via another sheer coincidence. Bea’s older sister is going to marry her longtime girlfriend at last, and, what do you know, Ben’s best friend is actually the younger brother of the future bride of Bea’s older sister. When they are officially introduced to each other in front of others, both Bea and Ben are not so pleased to say the least, but they decide to hide any hard feeling between them just for Bea’s older sister and her future bride.

It turns out that they will have to do this act of pretension of theirs a bit longer than expected. Bea’s older sister is going to have a wedding in Sydney, Australia where she will be wholeheartedly welcomed by her future parents-in-law, and Ben and Bea subsequently find themselves on the same airplane when they go there. Again, they feel bitter and awkward about each other, and the situation becomes a bit more awkward for Bea due to a little incident which happens in the middle of the flight.

As watching the considerable animosity between Ben and Bea, Bea’s older sister and several others around them decide to concoct a little scheme not so far from William Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing”. They attempt to make both Bea and Ben believe that there are still some affection and longing between them despite their ongoing antagonism, but Bea and Ben are too smart to be deceived from the beginning, and they actually are rather amused by that.

Nevertheless, understanding well the good intentions behind the scheme, Ben and Bea agree to go along with it while looking oblivious to that on the surface, and the movie accordingly serves us a number of funny moments. At one point, they decide to give some spark to their fake romance, and I must admit that I never expected to behold a sort of cross between “Titanic” (1997) and “Open Water” (2003).

It is not much of a spoiler to tell you that this ongoing act of pretended romance gradually becomes something genuine between Bea and Ben. When Bea’s ex-boyfriend and Ben’s ex-girlfriend conveniently appear, you will have a pretty good idea on how these two supporting characters lead to another trouble between Ben and Bea, and the movie will not surprise you at all in the end.

At least, the movie is often elevated by the game efforts from its two lead performers. While Sydney Sweeney, who has been more notable since her Emmy-nominated turn in HBO TV drama series “Euphoria”, effortlessly exudes charm and spirit in her amiable performance, Glen Powell, who has been more notable since his substantial supporting role in “Top Gun: Maverick” (2022), is equally engaging as her counterpart, and I can only hope that both of these charismatic performers will soon move onto better comedy films to support and utilize their presence and talent more. In case of a bunch of supporting performers around Sweeney and Powell, Dermot Mulroney, Bryan Brown, and Rachel Griffiths are dependable as usual, but they are often limited by their rather flat roles, and that is another disappointment in the film.

In conclusion, “Anyone but You” is a total bore at all, and director/co-writer Will Gluck did a fairly competent job on the whole. I was entertained to some degree when I watched it yesterday, but my mind kept rummaging my mental movie database for better romantic comedy films out there, and I must point out that there are already two good comedy films based on that famous play by Shakespeare. Both the 1993 version by Kenneth Branagh and the 2012 version by Joss Whedon are more enjoyable in comparison for having more wit, passion, and spirit, so I recommend either of them instead, but I will not stop from you watching “Anyone but You” if you just kill your spare time.