If ever there was a time to release a brand new romcom, it's February. Love is in the air and so I watched Your Place or Mine with pretty high expectations.
I love Reese Witherspoon, I mean who doesn't, and with her production company, Hello Sunshine, behind the movie, everything was shaping up nicely.
And then I watched it. Now normally, I wouldn't start a review off by thrashing it but honestly, I feel like I've been robbed of two hours of my life, and I can't help but wonder how this film ever got made.
So let's delve into what went wrong with Your Place or Mine!
What Is Your Place or Mine About?
The premise is simple. Twenty years ago, Debbie and Peter met and slept with each other. Realising they weren't going to date, they decided to stay best friends instead.
Now Debbie is a single mother with a teenage son and still living in LA. Peter is free, single and rich living in New York.
They haven't seen each other in years and instead just have daily phone conversations. But Debbie, now very sensible and overprotective, needs to go to New York to complete a college course.
But when her babysitter cancels last minute, Peter suggests that he will fly to LA and look after Jack, and Debbie can stay in his apartment in New York.
So they swap houses, and Debbie quickly befriends Peter's ex-girlfriend Minka (Zoe Chao), hooks up with book editor Theo Martin (Jesse Williams), and finds an unpublished manuscript from Peter.
Peter, in the meantime, lets Jack do pretty much whatever he wants, confides in Alicia (Tig Notaro) about his feelings for Debbie, and basically has a full re-think about his life.
Nearly two hours pass, and they realise they love each other. The end.
That's not a spoiler, by the way, it's inevitable from the second the film starts!
Your Place or Mine Official Trailer
Is Your Place or Mine Worth Watching?
The short answer is no, the longer answer is this…
In any romcom, no matter how bad it is, there HAS to be chemistry between the two leads. Otherwise, viewers cannot get invested in the story or the relationship.
For some strange reason, other than about two minutes in the end, Reese Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher are never in the same scene together. NEVER.
It's split screen after split screen as they talk on the phone, on facetime etc… etc… I don't even think they filmed any of it together.
Even if you can get over that, neither of them is very good. I mean they phoned this in because the script is stilted, the conversations are unnatural, and none of it is even remotely believable.
But it's not all doom and gloom. Tig Notaro and Zoe Chao (The Afterparty) rescue it from oblivion, with Notaro particularly sharp and funny. They're actually quite good in it!
However, that's not enough to create a decent romantic comedy. There are far better alternatives, so give it a miss.
Your Place or Mine Netflix Movie Cast
Your Place or Mine had a release date of February 10th 2023, and was written and directed by Aline Brosh McKenna in her directorial debut.
Reese Witherspoon as Debbie Dunn, a single mother who is best friends with Peter
Ashton Kutcher as Peter Coleman, who ahs been in love with Debbie since her met her 20 years ago
Zoë Chao as Minka who dated Peter for six months and is now friends with Debbie
Jesse Williams as Theo Martin, a renowned book editor who falls for Debbiw
Wesley Kimmel as Jack, Debbie's teenage son
Tig Notaro as Alicia, Debbie's friend in LA
Steve Zahn as Zen, a guy who randomly looks after Debbies garden
Rachel Bloom as Scarlet, Jack's babysitter
