OK, I'll confess to watching "Anyone But You" and "The Idea of You" this week.
Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell vs. Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine.
A little bit of rom-com heaven right here on earth, thanks to Netflix and Prime Video.
The two films with their opposing titles present surprisingly similar takes on the travails of modern love.
In "Anyone But You," Sweeney's a young woman trying to discover herself. She finds her life's purpose in Powell's character, a modern-day Cary Grant who bumbles along yet keeps standing, often taking off his clothes.
"The Idea of You" offers Anne Hathaway as 40-year-old seeking to reinvent herself. She finds happiness in a fling with a 24-year-old singer in a boy band she implausibly meets.
As with Galitzine's engaging British lad, Anne had me at hello.
I'd forgotten that the film, purportedly taking place in the Los Angeles area and the south of France, was shot in Atlanta. Virginia-Highland turned into Glendale, Calif. The Georgian coast stars as the Mediterranean.
As some Internet wag mentioned, the main purpose of "Anyone But You" seemed to be showing Powell without his shirt.
I've been reading about the new Brad Pitt's appearance in the acclaimed new crime noir thriller "Hit Man," and wanted to gauge his star power along with Sweeney.
The takeoff of Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" wobbled a few times with clunky dialogue, and Sweeney is a bit wooden. Yet she offered a passable imitation of the young Goldie Hawn, and I laughed at her comic scenes.
Although Powell at times appeared to be wondering how he had arrived in such a silly movie, he persevered to the end. The inevitable coming together of him and Sweeney delivered a satisfying finish.
The movie was also worth watching because of the gorgeous shots of another Sydney, Sydney. Australia. The city's harbor with its spectacular opera house rising from a small island and its skyline gave me an urge to hop on a plane and go down under.
With all of the bad news about political turmoil, extreme weather and the Braves, I enjoyed such escapist fare.
They reminded me of movies Hollywood used to turn out that just wanted to entertain.
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