Shakespeare – Credits Rolling

Bea (Sydney Sweeney) and Ben (Glen Powell) have the most amazing first date until a misunderstanding thwarts their feelings for one another. When fate intervenes and they are thrown together at a destination wedding in Australia, they do what anybody in their situation would do: pretend to be a couple! Initially thinking it’ll be a walk in the park, they don’t expect the old sparks to reignite.

My expectations for Anyone But You were through the roof from the moment I heard about it. Having been a fan of Sweeney’s since Euphoria, I was looking forward to seeing the other types of roles she would take on next. Similarly, Powell captured my heart in last summer’s Top Gun Maverick and hasn’t seemed to let it go yet. There was no way this film could go wrong with the two of them tackling one of my all time favorite tropes. Luckily I was right – their chemistry was HOT and I could not take my eyes off of them.

What I didn’t know going into this was that it was loosely based off of William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. This did become apparent, however, as I was watching the miscommunications unfold and all the meddling the various supporting characters took part in. Bea’s sister Halle (Hadley Robinson) and Ben’s best friend Claudia (Alexandra Shipp) aka the two brides, as well as respective parents Leo (Dermot Mulroney) and Innie (Rachel Griffiths) and Roger (Bryan Brown) and Carol (Michelle Hurd) played their roles perfectly. I also loved Ben’s friend Pete (Gata) and stereotypical Aussie Beau (Joe Davidson) who brought even more laughs.

Though there were some moments throughout that were on the slower side, the jokes were consistent and had me giggling. I especially couldn’t hold it together during the hiking scene and I found myself singing along at the top of my lungs during Unwritten which will undoubtedly find its way back to the charts.

Every once in a while, a romcom will come around and sweep you off your feet. Anyone But You was exactly what I needed at this time of the year – two extremely good looking leads, fiery passion, some comedy and the beautiful backdrop of Australia. It was an absolute blast from start to finish and the perfect movie to end my year on.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️♥️

We all know about Romeo and Juliet’s doomed love, right? But did you know that before Juliet, Romeo was in love with a maiden called Rosaline?

Rosaline (Kaitlyn Dever) and Romeo (Kyle Allen) were the perfect couple. They dreamed of running away together, their families be damned, if it meant they could be together forever. When he meets Juliet (Isabela Merced) at the masquerade ball, Romeo falls head over heels in love with her. Suddenly jilted by the love of her life, Rosaline will stop at nothing until she finds out who this new woman is. Who she didn’t expect it to be is her cousin.

A modern retelling of Shakespeare’s tragedy, Rosaline was actually pretty cute. Dever shone as the lead, captivating me from the get go. Her comedic timing and meddlesome ways made for some great scenes that had me giggling. I’ve seen her in a variety of projects now and I must admit that she always surprises me.

The other cast and characters were fun to get to know too. I thought it was brilliant to dumb down the role of Romeo; the way in which Allen did this added a different element to the story and made it somewhat unpredictable. Merced did a fine job as Juliet, though I would have liked to see more of her. Bradley Whitford portrayed Rosaline’s father and Minnie Driver who played Rosaline’s nurse Janet didn’t have nearly enough screen time, but who were still welcome additions. And then there was the gorgeous Sean Teale who starred as Dario. His chemistry with Dever was palpable from the very first moment they laid eyes on each other and I just couldn’t wait until they got together.

With costumes that had me truly believing I was born in the wrong century and a soundtrack that gave me major Bridgerton vibes, Rosaline was a much better film than I gave it credit for. While it wasn’t perfect all the way through and at times seemed to drag on a bit, I really did enjoy it.

Rating: ♥♥♥