Tag: Romantic Comedy

Film Review: Anyone But You: Theme Song and based on Shakespeare? The RomCom is back

Hi Readers,

If you are unfamiliar with the 2000s romcom then you may be confused by my title but those who know, will know. Popular romantic comedies of the time such as 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), She’s the Man (2006) were loosely based on Shakespeare plays and even cult hit, Clueless (1995) is based on Jane Austen’s Emma.

Many romcoms had their own iconic songs that served as a motif/title track for the film: I Love You Baby from the famous scene where Heath Ledger’s Patrick sings it with the marching band to Kat (Julia Stiles) in 10 Things I Hate About You; Emma Stone’s Olive in Easy A (2011, honorary 00s) singing I’ve Got A Pocketful of Sunshine while getting ready; Katherine Heigl and James Marsden singing Bennie and the Jets while dancing on the bar in 27 Dresses (2008); the montage in which Renée Zellweger decides to be an Independent Woman is to the song I’m Every Woman in Bridget Jones’ Diary (2001).

Anyone But You takes these two ingredients and adds in the dream wedding destination – Australia; an enemies to lovers arc and a group of well-meaning yet meddling family plus a fun cast and produces a hit romcom. It has exceeded $200m at the box office which with two leads who have not yet reached A list status is a real triumph.

Anyone But You (2023)

The story starts unusually for a film in this genre with an unsuccessful meet-cute. Bea (Sydney Sweeney) is helped by handsome stranger Ben (Glen Powell) at a cafe and, after a potentially disastrous bathroom trip, they spend the evening together. A misunderstanding leads them to thinking the other was not so keen. Fast forward six months and Ben’s childhood friend Claudia (Alexandra Shipp) is marrying Bea’s sister, Hallie (Hadley Robinson). So it’s off to Sydney, Aus to Claudia’s stepdad’s mansion for a close-knit wedding.

Ben and Bea quickly descend into petty bickering but when the family starts pushing them together, they play along to show their exes that they are a hot commodity. Of course along the way, real feelings start to reveal themselves and they may not be quite so hateful towards each other.

I liked the pacing and plot of the film. It had a few classic comedy moments such as falling into the Sydney Harbour, a spider in the underwear for Ben and some poor fake acting from well-meaning friends. I didn’t feel anything was too over the top or unbelievable as in some romcoms. The tone was sincere but as this was a 15 there was a bit of nudity and swearing but nothing gratuitous, just enough to say this is for older teenagers.

The chemistry between the leads Powell and Sweeney was electric and their bickering seemed to come from a place of genuine connection despite an age gap which was playfully referred to. In films of the past, this would not have been mentioned at all so it was good to see.

The film was based on the Shakespeare play, Much Ado About Nothing and apart from the main couples names: Ben and Bea (Benedick and Beatrice), Claudia and Hallie (Claudio and Hero), I don’t think there is as much similarity as other romcoms and their classic counterparts.

The iconic theme song for this film was Natasha Bedingfield’s Unwritten from 2004 which starts as Ben’s ‘serenity’ song that he listens to on the plane to the wedding. Bea overhears this when attempting to steal his cookie and when they are being airlifted out of Sydney Harbour she starts singing it to calm Ben down. It pops up again at the wedding and during the credits, the cast sing it in the various locations from the film. This is another popular comedy trope and can be seen in films such as Chalet Girl (2009); Paddington 2 (2017) and Slumdog Millionaire (2008).

I watched the film recently after it was re-released as a Valentine’s Encore with an extra intro and ending from Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney as well as some behind the scenes. This was a lovely gesture and made the re-release more noteworthy as opposed to just putting the same thing into cinemas.

Many elements brought together made this film a great romcom and as many are calling it, the return to the classics of the past. I would happily go and watch this again and eagerly await its release onto streaming, even just to sing along to ‘Unwritten’ in the comfort of my own living room.

Overall I give this film 5/5.

Happy Watching,

Robyn 

Romantic Comedies are now promoting smart, successful and powerful women… and they’re still funny

Charlize Theron plays Charlotte Field, the Secretary of State of the United States. She has all the power, a team of advisers and not much down time. Her love interest, Fred Flarsky, played by Seth Rogen is a journalist who’s just been fired and dresses like he’s going to a 90s rave. Charlotte holds all the power between the two and it is her career on the line throughout the film.

Hello readers,

It’s been a while since I have done a post, just over six weeks but with university ending for this year and England suddenly becoming a warm country I haven’t found the time. I then saw a great film last night that I knew would make a great review. Long Shot starring Charlize Theron and Seth Rogen is a romantic comedy but one I had not seen before with the woman more powerful than her love interest. The way of Hollywood and other film industries is that the woman will have a job as a secretary/bakery owner/journalist/teacher or something else. These jobs are, of course all valid and necessary but her male love interest will be a banker/CEO/policeman/her boss or someone with more authority and power. In Long Shot, the roles are flipped.

Long Shot Poster

Charlize Theron plays Charlotte Field, the Secretary of State of the United States. She has all the power, a team of advisers and not much down time. Her love interest, Fred Flarsky, played by Seth Rogen is a junkie journalist who is forced to quit his job and dresses like he’s going to a 90s rave. Charlotte holds all the power between the two and it is her career on the line throughout the film.

Although of course, this is still the real world and the United States of America so even though Charlotte is successful, she is still treated as unequal to the male politicians in the film. She is talks about being asked what her skincare routine is, what designer she is wearing or being treated as just a pretty face. She has to work twice as hard as the men just to be taken seriously as a politician.

The film showed me that women in positions of power often have to fight harder for longer to gain the respect that men seem to gain more easily. The President of the United States in the film played by Bob Odenkirk and is a TV star who previously played the president on a TV show then decided to run for office. I thought that was a fun twist and The President decides he won’t be running for a second term to get into movie acting which he sees as more ambitious then being POTUS.

The main story of the film is that Fred leaves his job then goes to a benefit with his successful friend, Lance, played by O’Shea Jackson Jr. They run into Charlotte who used to be Fred’s babysitter when he was a teenager. Charlotte decides that to up her humour points, she has to hire Fred to write her speeches. The two go on a tour promoting Charlotte’s ‘bees, trees and seas’ environmental plan that she has been passionate about since she was 16.

While touring around the world, Fred and Charlotte reconnect and get to know each other better. Fred helps Charlotte to relax more and develop interests outside of her job. As this is a Seth Rogen film, he off course smokes weed and one hilarious scene involves Charlotte and Fred going clubbing in Paris after having taken drugs. Charlotte then has to deal with a hostage situation whilst still high.

The villain of the film, Parker Wembley played by Andy Serkis in some prosthetics, runs Wembley News that makes ridiculous claims and tries to discredit Charlotte. He continues trying to get a meeting with her after she persistently turns him down. It is his actions that almost ruin Charlotte’s career.

This film is laugh out loud funny which was not compromised despite the politics and feminism woven throughout the plot. There were no politically incorrect jokes or degrading comments made about women that were not self-aware or seen as bad within the film.

My friend Terry who I went to see the film with said that she liked the way that Charlotte “manages to achieve her goals without compromising her beliefs and still get the guy.” Terry also said that Charlotte “felt really real to me. She felt like a real person. You don’t often feel that in rom coms, especially with the female characters.” I agree with Terry and I think that a big part of the reason we both liked the film was that Charlotte was a smart successful woman but she could still be vulnerable and she still had feelings and hurdles to overcome in the film with her romantic life and her job.

I loved this film and Seth and Charlize had great chemistry that helped make their relationship seem believable. If you like rom coms but are tired of the man always being in power and the woman shown as weak, sexualised, ditsy or nerdy then this is the film for you. It is a 15 and there are some raunchy scenes but nothing too intense, it is a rom com after all.

Happy Watching,

Robyn

P.S. Other films I have enjoyed since last writing a blog post are Shazam!, Dumbo, Avengers: Endgame, Wild Rose, Wine Country, Ideal Home, Dog Days, The Perfect Date and The Last Summer.

TV series I have loved watching since my last post are The Society, Dead To Me, Now Apocalypse, Timeless, Z Nation, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, The Durrells, Special and On My Block.