Anyone But You (Blu-ray Review)
The romantic comedy has seemingly become a thing of the past. It’s a strange sentence to even write, but the once popular genre has maybe one film per year to represent it, where once there were what seemed like dozens of Romcoms coming out yearly. No Hard Feelings was last year’s offering, not doing as well theatrically as I would’ve hoped. Christmas 2023 saw the release of Anyone But You, and so far, this seems to be the only Romcom that’s theatrically released this year. Here’s hoping there are more, and they take notes from this one. Read my obviously positive review of Anyone But You below and be sure to order your own copy clicking the paid Amazon link at the end (pssst… it’s the cover art!).
Film 
In the edgy comedy Anyone But You, Bea (Sydney Sweeney) and Ben (Glen Powell) look like the perfect couple, but after an amazing first date something happens that turns their fiery hot attraction ice cold – until they find themselves unexpectedly thrust together at a destination wedding in Australia. So, they do what any two mature adults would do: pretend to be a couple.
Anyone But You begins in a way that seems too perfect to be true. Bea needs help quick, and Ben comes to her rescue. What starts as a meet cute becomes an all-day date and a sexless sleepover. It’s all adorable… Until Bea sneaks out. Much to Ben’s surprise, he has caught feelings. Bea, on the phone with her sister is swayed to run back to Ben, but in a faux pas’ moment, she overhears him lying about her to a friend, by turn insulting her. Of course, that flame is burned out.
Flashing to half a year later, Ben and Bea meet not-so-cute when learning that Bea’s sister is marrying Ben’s good friend. The two wounded souls trade insults, not realizing they will have to cross paths again at the destination wedding the two brides have planned in Australia. Of course, upon arrival, all the guests, save for a few who have ulterior motives, notice the pair have chemistry and their rudeness and traded barbs are more like the behaviors of people who are lying and seem to be into one another. The game is set when those around them decide to push the two together. But Bea and Ben aren’t stupid – They know what’s going on and choose to put themselves together in a plan to throw everyone off. Why not pretend to be together, right?
Will Gluck’s writing and direction can sometimes be excellent. His Easy A cemented Emma Stone as a star and gave us a modern comedy classic. He also made the new Annie and two hit or miss Peter Rabbit films. Place Anyone But You in the category with Easy A. The film goes down easy, with Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell teaming up with easy, sexy chemistry. We also get Alexandra Shipp, GaTa, and Hadley Robinson, three talented and funny supporting actors and some veterans game for fun in Dermot Mulroney and Bryan Brown as the brides’ dads. The film goes down easy, has some guaranteed belly laughs and just enough raunch to reach comedy fans not just looking for romance.
There are also a few easter eggs for Easy A fans. That movie was loosely based on The Scarlet Letter and this one is loosely based on Much Ado About Nothing, with quotes from the play breaking up the movie in segments. Also, Easy A gave icon status to Natasha Bedingfield’s Pocketful of Sunshine, while this film gives the same love to her song Unwritten.
Video
NOTE: Stills are provided for promotional use only and are not from the Blu-ray.
Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC
Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
HDR: N/A
Layers: BD-50
Clarity/Detail: Anyone But You has a thoroughly modern look to it. It also has a 4K DI. Why there wasn’t a simultaneous 4K UHD Blu-ray release is anyone’s guess. Elitist format complaints aside, the film looks great in HD! The movie has a great location shooting environment with lots of cool tidbits to take in in indoor and outdoor spaces! Nighttime scenes are equally impressive.
Depth: Starting with more basic looking depth, as the story takes Anyone But You to Australia, things get more interesting and richer. One scene provides a gorgeous example of great depth of field while the characters are on a hike. Overall depth is handled nicely throughout, and would’ve been even more of an uptick in its native resolution.
Color Reproduction: Stunning colors come together in all scenes. Sea colors, sand colors, nice interior coloring in indoor scenes. Everything looks lovely!
Black Levels: Blacks are nice and deep, with nothing looking washed out or crushed.
Flesh Tones: Flesh Tones all appear to be as lifelike as possible, with nobody looking wonky or overly warm toned.
Noise/Artifacts: Clean
Audio
Audio Format(s): English, French, Spanish DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
Dynamics: Anyone But You comes home with a capable DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix. It’s nothing thrilling, but it gets the job done. This is a talky film, and music is the biggest moment for bass response.
Height: N/A
Low-Frequency Extension: The subwoofer activates for music and only music for the duration of the film.
Surround Sound Presentation: Surrounds are mostly to help spread out the music cues and add some ambient sounds to the mix.
Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue is excellent and center stage throughout.
Extras
Special Features on the Anyone But You Blu-ray are not the best, but they could be worse. The film ships with the Blu-ray and a digital code. No slipcover has been included. Features are as follows (all in HD)
- He Said, She Said (4:01)
- Everyone Down Under (3:54)
- Outtakes/Bloopers (3:10)
- 3 Deleted Scenes (all scenes are at max 2:00 or at least 00:20)
- ASMR Pickup Lines (1:11) (This one had me shrieking laughing…)
- Aussie Snacks (2:15)
Summary
Anyone But You didn’t have to be as savvy and modern as it was. It has clichés and is predictable. The humor and the performances bring it over the top and watching it is an excuse to smile for 102 minutes. Glen Powell shows his versatility here while being eye candy for the ladies and their gay friends. Sydney Sweeney also holds her own, breaking out of her work from Euphoria and oozes sex appeal, sure to raise the pulses of many men who watch the movie! Technical merits are great on this Blu-ray, and one wonders if we will see a 4K release because the Australia locale is screaming for the added resolution. Worth a pick up at a decent sale price, but maybe hang on until we know there won’t be a UHD Blu-ray release if you’d rather have that.
