Anyone But You

Director: Will Gluck
Starring: Sydney Sweeney, Glen Powell, Alexandra Shipp, GaTa, Hadley Robinson, Michelle Hurd, Dermot Mulroney, Darren Barnet, Bryan Brown, Rachel Griffiths, Charlee Fraser, Joe Davidson
Running Time: 103 min.
Rating: R

★★½ (out of ★★★★)  

The most surprising detail about the romantic comedy Anyone But You is that it features two ascending talents who happen to have a lot of on screen chemistry. The premise isn't terrible either, especially when the focus remains on them rather than an overstuffed cast of exes, in-laws, siblings, spouses and parents. But even its likable leads can't seem to stop this from losing its way, as a promising concept becomes increasingly familiar. Director and co-writer Will Gluck does a decent enough job hiding it, but there's just no escaping the fact this mostly hinges on single piece of information we know that the main characters don't. At some point you realize this will eventually settle into the rhythms of a more traditional rom-com, despite taking a more circuitous route to get there.

What we're left with is a mixed bag that should increase everyone's appreciation of its leads, both of whom do their best to elevate the material. And while one seems more at home in this genre than the other, the mind still races at all the possibilities of them re-teaming, hopefully in a project better than this. The film's unexpected commercial success can largely be attributed to their perseverance amidst a smattering of gags from the supporting players that rarely connect. It's a strain most felt in the latter section, as multiple complications work to delay what should be a fairly simple, satisfying payoff.

While frantically attempting to obtain a key to the coffee shop restroom, Boston University law student Bea (Sydney Sweeney) meets finance broker Ben (Glen Powell) and they immediately hit it off. After spending the rest of the day together, she stays over at his apartment that night, but a misunderstanding unfolds when she abruptly leaves the next morning. They don't see each other again until months later when Bea's sister Halle (Hadley Robinson) begins dating Ben's best friend Pete's (GaTa) sister Claudia (Alexandra Shipp). 

At each other's throats over the disastrous ending of that date, Bea and Ben must temporarily put their differences aside for Halle and Claudia's destination wedding in Sydney, Australia. But tensions further escalate when their exes, Jonathan (Darren Barnett) and Margaret (Charlee Fraser) arrive, prompting Bea and Ben to hide their mutual disdain and pose as a couple. It's game on, at least until they come to the realization they may not be over each other after all.

After an awkward but promising start, a relatively straightforward narrative is hijacked by an overabundance of characters and obstacles, losing trust in its two leads to do what they mostly excel at the whole way through. In fact, you argue they actually improve together as this progresses while everything and everyone surrounding them distracts from that, undermining the film's central purpose. 

Bea is initially depicted as a total disaster, and while the setup works, it relies on goofy physical comedy that puts Sweeney in a tough spot since she fares better when playing a sly, sarcastic schemer in her scenes opposite Powell. Displaying great comedic timing and a charismatic presence that recalls a younger Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt, Powell's upside is such that this role can at least be referenced down the line for launching him into future stardom. That both capably glide through some of the more problematic sections on their interplay alone is no small feat considering you need a detailed chart to track the other characters, which also include Bea's helicopter parents (Dermot Mulroney and Rachel Griffiths) and Margaret's oafish surfer boyfriend (Joe Davidson). 

Supposedly, this is loosely based on Much Ado About Nothing, albeit very loosely. We know only one thing matters, but Gluck sure does jump through hoops to delay arriving at that destination. Some jokes, like ones involving Titanic and the use of a ubiquitous pop song are cutely clever, even if others flop hard. Still, there's something to be said for him sticking the landing with one of those showy, impossibly romantic endings that lesser filmmakers always manage to botch. Anyone But You may be slightly better than its generic title suggests, but too much of what comes before is iffier, holding this back from completely besting expectations.    

Tick, Tick...Boom!

Director: Lin-Manuel Miranda
Starring: Andrew Garfield, Alexandra Shipp, Robin de Jesús, Joshua Henry, Vanessa Hudgens, Judith Light, Jonathan Marc Sherman, Mj Rodriguez, Ben Levi Ross, Bradley Whitford, Laura Benanti, Richard Kind
Running Time: 121 min.
Rating: PG-13 

★★ ½ (out of ★★★★)

When Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda was 17 he saw Rent on Broadway and he's credited it for showing him it was entirely possible to write a show that can be both contemporary and important, connecting with audiences on an entirely different level. It was the perfect story that came along at just the right moment, performed by a once-in-a-lifetime cast that seemed to truly grasp how important it was. This was all heightened by the fact that its creator Jonathan Larson never lived to see the impact his work would leave, shockingly passing away before the curtain came up. Chris Columbus' 2005 big screen adaptation of his musical may have reassembled the original cast, but it somehow failed to do anything else, falling considerably short in recapturing any of the elements that made the musical special. It also came too late, hinting that maybe Rent is a story that resides in a very specific time and place in our culture, for which we should probably be grateful.

If Miranda says there would be no In the Heights without Jonathan Larson, it seems only fitting that his feature directorial debut would be an adaptation of Larson's Tick, Tick...Boom, his semi-autobiographical rock musical that preceded Rent and detailed his struggles as a starving artist in early 90's New York City trying to get his Superbia musical off the ground. Screenwriter Steven Levinson (of the infamous Dear Evan Hansen) incorporates real details from Larson's life while alternating between stage monologues, rehearsals of the show, and a more traditional narrative detailing him and his friends trying to make it. If that sounds like a mess, it is. But it's also pretty ambitious and Garfield's frenetic, endlessly energetic performance proves to be an almost fighteningly accurate recreation of what we've seen of the real Larson. 

Those who love this film will really, really love it since it's all very inside and feels made exclusively for those within the New York theater community. But that doesn't mean others won't lose patience with some of the musical numbers or find themselves lost as a number of cameos and references fly over their heads. Miranda's clearly going against the grain by making an artsy, abstract take on biopics in the spirit of Larson's work, looking to appeal to the hardest of hardcore theaterheads. Unfortunately, Tick, Tick...Boom! isn't Rent and there's a reason the latter is so revered while the former was a stepping stone. To Miranda's credit, he doesn't shy away from that, but it does result in some hit-or-miss musical numbers that may have you antsy for Larson to start writing what's next already. This is the journey to get there, and while it's a slog at times, it's meant to be a parable on perserverance and failure, with Miranda depicting Larson's brilliance and obsessive self-destruction with a painful, unflinching honesty.

It's 1992 and Jonathan Larson is performing his Tick,Tick...Boom! monologue at New York Theatre Workshop with friends and Superbia cast members Roger (Joshua Henry) and Karessa (Vanessa Hudgens). Hearing a ticking clock in his head as he approaches his 30th birthday, Jonathan frets that time may be running out in his quest to become a successful musical theater composer like his idol Stephen Sondheim (Bradley Whitford). Preparing to workshop Superbia while working at the Moondance Diner in SoHo, he dismisses former roomate and actor Michael's (Robin de Jesús) suggestions that he follow him into a more secure career in corporate advertising. With rent overdue and the electricity about to be shut off, Jonathan also faces the possibility his dancer-turned-teacher girlfriend, Susan (Alexandra Shipp) could be moving if she accepts a new job opportunity. And now, after 8 years toiling over Superbia, his creative obsession reaches its boiling point, damaging all of his personal relationships in the process.   

What's most surprising about the depiction of Larson is how both emotionally draining and inspiring he can be. Garfield nearly leaps through the screen with his infectious enthusiasm, establishing him early as an artist with a one-track mind that won't let anything or anyone get in the way of his vision. At times it crosses far over the line into selfishness (especially in regard to Susan), but there's rarely a moment where he doesn't seem entirely relatable. The film's at its best when residing completely in Larson's head, fixating on the idea that time's running out. It sadly proves to be true, as in the end he had just barely enough, but not nearly what he should have gotten. The same could be said for many of his friends, with the AIDS epidemic bubbling under the surface for much of the film's narrative before playing a bigger role in the last act.

The time and setting of the early 90's NYC theater scene, like the protagonist himself, has so infrequently been given attention on the big or small screen that Miranda has the advantage of immersing us in a mostly unexplored world. How many who aren't already familar with it will even be interested is the bigger question, especially since the first hour is so shaky. The cutting between the Larson monologue, Superbia musical numbers and dramatic scenes are almost dizzying and an argument could be made that only two of those numbers really work. The first, "Sunday" features a parade of Broadway legends such as André De Shields, Bebe Neuwirth, Joel Grey, Chita Rivera, Phylicia Rashad, Bernadette Peters and Brian Stokes Mitchell filling the Moondance Diner. A later number, "Therapy" sees Garfield and Vanessa Hudgens brilliantly singing and pantomiming the crazy trajectory of Jonathan and Susan's relationship. 

Interestingly enough, Hudgins' character is mostly a background player up until that number, one of the film's very best, where she just lets loose and does more in explaining the Jonathan-Susan relationship than most of the scenes Alexandra Shipp shares with Garfield, as those moments never really rise above the trope of ignored girlfriend of genius artist. The bond between Jonathan and best friend Michael carries more resonance, as does Bradley Whitford's small but memorable turn as Stephen Sondheim, providing the perfect swan song, with the legend's mentorship playing a key role in pushing Jonathan forward. Judith Light is also very good as his agent, Rosa Stevens, who honestly but compassionately gives him the exact advice he needs, regardless of how difficult it may be to hear.     

The fear that everything Jonathan's worked toward for the past eight years may have amounted to nothing, reaches this crescendo in the last act, only to kind of fizzle out, culminating in a musical number that just seems to go on and on and on. By this point, we're ready for the breakthrough. We want him write Rent, but the script's so hyper-focused on failure after failure that when his creative epiphany does come, it's mentioned almost in passing, as a backdrop to his tragic death. 

It never feels like we get a chance to celebrate anything in this picture, which may exactly be the point. Still, it seems so much was put into conveying his struggles and squeezing in as many musical numbers as possible, that things got a little muddled along the way. Despite being a wildly mixed bag of questionable choices, Tick,Tick...Boom! is still entirely watchable and one of the few near-misses I'd actually be willing to give another look at down the road. That's mainly because Garfield is such a revelation as Larson, remaining intensely focused and engaged even while the film drags its feet, frequently feeling far longer and more exhausting than its running time suggests.