What makes this film different from predecessors such as She’s The Man, and 10 Things I Hate About You? Let’s recap these iconic adaptations to explore what makes these rom-com adaptations popular, successful, and relevant in 2024.
Is Anyone But You the newest Shakespeare Rom-Com?
With only a 55% on Rotten Tomatoes, Anyone But You failed to make much of a splash during its press run aside from rampant rumours surrounding its leading actors. Nonetheless, upon my first viewing of the film, I was pleasantly surprised by the nods to its source material of one of Shakespeare’s best-loved comedies, Much Ado About Nothing.
Bea and Ben, the film’s primary leads, who spend most of the film at odds with each other, find their namesakes in Beatrice and Benedict of the original play. As well as referencing direct quotes from the play, Anyone But You borrows some of its plot points. For example, Don Pedro and Claudio’s cinematic counterparts – Pete and Roger – mirror the play in that they also stage a conversation hoping that Ben will hear them.
However, while the film follows the general trajectory of Much Ado About Nothing, there are moments where the film falls flat. Unlike Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 adaptation of Romeo + Juliet, which remains largely faithful to Shakespeare’s own words, Will Gluck opts for a total revamping of the script, save for a few textual references to Much Ado. But this is not the film’s only Shakespearean reference. In the film’s first act, Bea walks past a spraypainted wall reading, ‘Here’s much to do with hate, but more to do with love.’ While this signals the film’s thematic aspirations and pays homage to the original writer, this quote is actually from Romeo and Juliet, further complicating the adaptation process. Unlike its predecessors, Anyone But You feels at times unsure of its own status as an adaptation.
She’s The Man, Genderbending, and the Epic Highs and Lows of High School Football
Another iteration of a Shakespearean comedy comes in the form of the 2006 cult classic She’s The Man, starring Amanda Bynes and Channing Tatum. Distinctly an adaptation of Twelfth Night, this film centres around Viola (Bynes) dressing as her brother to play football at his new school. The film’s main characters – Viola, Sebastian, Duke, and Olivia – all have a counterpart in the play.
However, claiming that She’s The Man is an exact reproduction of Twelfth Night would be unfair. Like Anyone But You, it too is loosely based on its source. Instead of a shipwreck off the coast of the island of Illyria, Violet commences the film by dressing as her twin brother to take his place at his school, conveniently named Illyria. The school’s name – Illyria – is another nod to Shakespeare’s naming, as are most of the minor characters.
It is also imperative that the film remains conscious of its genre and its audience. While a 16th-century audience no doubt found Twelfth Night hilarious, it is likely inaccessible for the target audience of She’s The Man. That is not to say that modern audiences cannot appreciate the intricacies of Elizabethan-era comedy, but rather that ultimately, to market a film as a comedy, there must be an element of lightheartedness and simplicity that appeals to 21st-century audiences.
Yet, unlike Anyone But You, She’s The Man‘s fidelity to its play comes across on screen as almost camp. She’s The Man largely eschews direct quotes from the Bard, with the exception of “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” Much of the film’s comedic value comes from intentionally juxtaposing archaic names and plot points with the modern context of high school football. Perhaps the film’s enduring success comes from this, while Anyone But You, although entertaining, allows viewers to forget that it is an adaptation.
10 Things I Hate About You, Late 90’s High School Drama, and the Universality of Wanting to Write a Poem about Heath Ledger
Arguably the most well-known adaptation of the Bard due to a number of reasons, including but not limited to Kat Stratford’s drunken table dancing, Heath Ledger’s character singing ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’ while being chased by security, or the heartfelt poem at the end of the film that serves as the namesake of the film, 10 Things I Hate About You has done what the aforementioned films have yet to do; stood the test of time.
Like its successor She’s The Man, 10 Things I Hate About You is also set in a high school that is named after their theatrical counterpart’s setting. Here, Padua High School serves as a nod to the setting of The Taming of the Shrew. Unlike its successor, the character names are not unlike what you would find in the average American high school, with the notable exception of sisters Kat and Bianca, who take their names from the central figures of the play, and Kat’s love interest Patrick Verona, whose surname is an homage to the setting of Romeo and Juliet. Notably, this reference to the ultimate Shakespearean love story is also present in Anyone But You.
The Taming of the Shrew has long been criticised for its misogynistic elements. Nonetheless, 10 Things, instead of ignoring its problematic origins, approaches its story in a more woman-oriented manner, including feminist discourse alongside friendly banter within its dialogue. In this way, the film truly succeeds as an adaptation; it refashions the comedy of the play to suit a modern audience and their discourse while maintaining the narrative elements that made it an enduring story to begin with.
Is today where Anyone But You‘s book begins?
Ultimately, Anyone But You can trace its genealogy back a few decades in a longstanding tradition of adapting Shakespeare, but stands alone and separate from its predecessors as an iteration of a new type of rom-com. Despite a shaky start, it boasts a fantastic cast, catchy soundtrack (thank you, Natasha Bedingfield), and feel-good comedy, hopefully marking the start of a trend in cinema that turns to stories of the past to transform them into the mainstream rom-coms of today. But, of course, as Natasha herself put it, the rest is still unwritten!
