Film

Anyone but You

A glossy romantic comedy about two people who hit it off spectacularly, then crash just as hard, before pretending to be a couple at a wedding in Australia. It's bright, tropically photographed, energetically performed, and built for watching with someone you like. Perfect if you want charm and banter without anything that asks you to think.

TMDb rating3.4

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Set It Up2018

Two assistants scheme to set up their awful bosses as a couple. It has the same DNA: snappy dialogue, charismatic leads with real chemistry, and a premise that's an excuse for witty sparring rather than anything substantial.

But The rom-com formula is visible from orbit. If you've seen the genre done once, you've seen the bones of this.

Set It Up poster

Crazy, Stupid, Love.2011

A marriage falls apart and reassembles across one glittering summer, with actual emotional stakes hidden inside the comedy. It's more structurally ambitious than most rom-coms, and the supporting cast is genuinely excellent.

But It's longer than it needs to be, and the tonal shifts between adult heartbreak and rom-com hijinks don't always land smoothly.

Crazy, Stupid, Love. poster

The Proposal2009

Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds have the same effortless banter chemistry. It's set somewhere beautiful, it moves fast, and it knows exactly what it is: ninety minutes of attractive people being funny at each other.

But The plot relies on contrived coincidence, and it doesn't pretend to be anything other than a fantasy of how romance works.

The Proposal poster

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Forgetting Sarah Marshall2008

Both films use destination beauty and ensemble comedy to soften a premise about people pretending—but where Anyone but You leans entirely into lightness, this one admits that romantic failure actually hurts.

A man's girlfriend leaves him for a rock star, and he runs into them at a Hawaiian resort. It's a rom-com, but it's also genuinely funny and occasionally genuinely sad—the kind of film where the jokes land because the character pain is real, not despite it.

But It's raunchy in ways that can feel dated and broad. Some of the male vulnerability might feel jarring if you want pure escape.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall poster
More like this (8)

Hitch2005

Will Smith as a dating coach winds up coaching the guy trying to date the woman he loves. It's a high-concept rom-com that actually executes the concept with style and personality, plus genuine warmth underneath the scheme.

But Some of the seduction advice will make you uncomfortable, and the tone can feel dated in places.

Hitch poster

10 Things I Hate About You1999

A teen rom-com with real wit and charm, built on Shakespeare's bones. The leads have genuine chemistry, and it's funny without being mean—a rare balance in the genre.

But It's set in high school, so you're watching teenagers. If that instantly kills it for you, that's fair.

10 Things I Hate About You poster

The Wedding Date2005

Debra Messing hires a male escort to be her date to a wedding, and they discover each other over the course of the film. It's glossy and funny, with real emotional moments and excellent supporting characters.

But The premise is built on mild sex work, which some find uncomfortable. It also doesn't particularly challenge its own setup.

The Wedding Date poster

When Harry Met Sally...1989

The template for modern rom-coms, and it still works. Two people who should be together spend the whole movie being too stubborn to notice. The script crackles, the chemistry is real, and it genuinely lands its emotional moments.

But It's forty years old and it shows. Expectations around dating and relationships have shifted since then.

When Harry Met Sally... poster

Legally Blonde2001

Elle Woods goes to Harvard Law to win back her ex and ends up finding herself instead. It's funnier and smarter than its premise suggests, with heart that doesn't feel cheap.

But The early-2000s fashion and cultural references date it, and it's built on some gender stereotypes that probably shouldn't still land as punchlines.

Legally Blonde poster

Sweet Home Alabama2002

Reese Witherspoon returns to her small Alabama hometown to finalize her divorce and discovers she's still in love with her ex-husband. It has a good cast, nice Southern scenery, and moves with genuine charm.

But The plot is aggressively straightforward, and the stakes never feel real. It's competent without being particularly memorable.

Sweet Home Alabama poster

Love, Weddings & Other Disasters2020

Both are wedding-adjacent comedies that understand romance works best when surrounded by other people's chaos. But this one treats the relationships as complicated rather than just obstacles to overcome.

A sprawling ensemble comedy about four different couples navigating love and marriage in New York, all culminating at a wedding. It's warm without being saccharine, funny without trying too hard, and genuinely about how people actually talk to each other.

But The ensemble structure means no single story gets deep focus. If you want a tight two-person narrative, this scattered approach might feel meandering.

Love, Weddings & Other Disasters poster

Moonlight2016

Where Anyone but You plays with pretense as comedy, this examines the weight of pretending to be someone you're not. The destination wedding rom-com and the slow-burn tragedy are almost mirror images of each other.

A man's life unfolds across three moments: childhood, adolescence, adulthood—three films' worth of story compressed into one. It's quiet, beautiful, structurally daring, and about what it costs to hide who you are. The romance is real and devastating.

But It's the opposite of escapist. It's slow, serious, and asks you to sit with grief. There is no soundtrack swells or witty banter.

Moonlight poster

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