Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Dustin Rowles | Film | November 16, 2023
I genuinely think Sydney Sweeney is a good dramatic actress. I think her Emmy nominations for Euphoria and White Lotus were merited. She’s great in Reality. Some may also remember her devastating turn in the early seasons of The Handmaid’s Tale.
Being a great dramatic actress, however, does not necessarily extend to comedy (or even action). Keanu Reeves is one of the great action stars of our generation. He was not good in The Lake House or Sweet November. Search your soul. You know it to be true! Remember Ghost World? Thora Birch was unbelievably good in that and in American Beauty. Her range, however, seemed to be limited to sullen teenagers.
Meanwhile, the trailer for >Anyone But You seems to illustrate the limits of Sweeney’s range. She doesn’t have the necessary rat-a-tat-tat patter for a romantic comedy like this, and acting opposite Glen Powell — who clearly does — does not help matters. She sounds like she’s badly reading from cue cards, and if the trailer cannot be edited better than that, I have little hope for her performance in the film itself.
That said: A Glen Powell rom-com from Easy A director Will Gluck? I’ll watch it anyway.
Anyone But You opens on December 22nd in theaters.
