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I knew from the trailers that I would love this. But if I'd known it was a "Much Ado About Nothing" retelling, I would've gotten around to watching it way sooner. It took me until about a quarter of the way in, but then all the names and Shakespeare quotes made sense. I loved the clever callbacks to both the play and the 1993 movie, from the overdramatic conversations overheard in the garden to the leads even looking a bit like Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh. This had me grinning from ear to ear. And my goodness, the credits had me cackling. I will never listen to "Unwritten" the same way again.

This movie was anything but consistent. Some scenes were ridiculously endearing, some were ridiculously annoying, some were ridiculously laughable, and some were just ridiculous. (I think the one commonality is self evident.) Gluck clearly wanted to bring back the big budget RomCom and update Shakespeare all at once - the movie version of a genre novel that leans all the way into all the tropes, but is smart enough to make good literary references along the way. Much like with any somewhat self aware story, there were times when the camera winks amused me and times when they had the opposite effect. Regardless, there is no denying that Powell and Sweeney make the most of every scene. Even if it never fully comes together for you, I bet you will still find yourself at least a little charmed.

We've seen a million movies set at weddings before - where even the couple getting married gets invested in the main couples status. So I knew a lot of the tropes would be the same, but it was the same but a bit worse. The main couple story I actually really liked, I thought they were hilarious and cute and beat out other movies with the same storyline. It was everything else that fell short. The background characters felt cheesy and fake. All surface level gags or you didn't really get to know them, nothing felt genuine - case in point Bea's parents were incredibly unrealistic, no ones that out of touch. Even Bea's background felt half-done, never explaining why she didn't want law school.

Bea (Sydney Sweeney) meets Ben (Glen Powell) in a coffee shop and they hook up. There are misunderstandings next morning and they leave angry. It turns out that his friend is marrying her sister. The two enemies have to attend a destination wedding in Australia.

Sweeney and Powell are trying all kind of broad physical humor. They are both gorgeous and both have good charisma. Neither are outright comedians and that is important. They are mildly funny but are rarely the funniest part. The first big laugh is the WTF old guy while the two bicker. The butt grabbing scene kinda works, but the leads may be overshadowed by a koala. This duo tries very hard. It's so ridiculous that it's mildly funny.

I went to see this movie because I am a sucker for a romantic comedy, even the average ones (and let's face it, most of them are). Having seen the trailer, I had low expectations, yet this film still managed to come it at an even lower level.

Boy meets girl, they hit it off briefly, there is a misunderstanding and when they reconnect through a friend/family wedding, they hate each other. Except as anyone could predict, ultimately they don't really, but it takes an eternity of inauthentic, puerile dross to get there. No tissues needed here.

The acting is generally average to poor, and local actors like Rachel Griffiths and Bryan Brown (much of it filmed in Australia) do the minimum required, and are completely wasted here. The script is juvenile, facile and has little in common with reality. The direction is pedestrian and much of the movie is a travel ad for Sydney. Throw in plastic, unlikeable characters and a healthy dose of gratuitous nudity. The attempts at comedy are almost laughable as that, and what little romance eventuates at the end fails to convince after nearly two hours of tripe beforehand.

Not recommended, even if you are a fan of the genre.