Has had some success in romantic comedy over the past 10 years. Damned by indifferent studios churning out tepid spinoffs and suffocated by bossy discourse organized by disappointed fans, the genre can’t seem to rest. Headlines relentless: Romantic comedy is dead! Romantic comedies never matter! Occasionally a movie revives a modicum of confidence in the genre’s future, but for the most part, recent attempts to salvage one of cinema’s most cherished comfort food categories have been forgotten.
In light of these circumstances, I approach your place or mine with suspicion and anger. In theory, the project has potential: Reese Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher stars Debbie and Peter as we wait patiently for these two to fall in love within 2 hours. Both are performers who have amassed enough goodwill over the years to activate our nostalgia. Aline Brosh McKenna, who wrote the screenplay for 51 Dresses and The Devil Wears Prada , is the screenwriter and director. A charming cast plays supporting roles. But even a film that seems to have put so much effort into it can feel hollow.
Your place or my place
Bottom line An old school magician.
Release date: Friday, February (Netflix) Throwing:
Reese Witherspoon, Ashton Kutcher, Jesse Williams , Zoë Chao, Wesley Kimmel Director and Writer: Aline Brosh McKenna Rating PG-10, 1 hour51 minute
Thankfully, your place or mine don’t. It’s a breezy magician—the kind of movie these obituaries have been mourning for years. This movie goes back to the genre blueprint and sticks to it. There are several examples of subversion, when your place or my place winks and makes fun of yourself. But for the most part, it doesn’t want to surprise or outsmart its audience; it aims to please, and in doing so it helps reinvigorate the romantic comedy.
The film opens with a poker game at Debbie’s (Witherspoon) home in Los Angeles. We can say it is — not because of the fashion choices the film brazenly points out via arrows and lists, but because of Debbie Can save enough money in her 10 to own her place. Peter (Kutcher), an aspiring writer and the emotionally detached man she beats at poker, thinks it’s cool. She’s strong-willed and independent; he’s a little headstrong. They bonded over their mutual love of literature. The two had sex, but ended up not being together. Instead, they maintained a friendship of 20 years.
In the present day, Debbie is an accountant and single mother to Jack (Wesley Kimmel). Her last marriage to the climber didn’t work out; he wanted adventure and she wanted stability. Peter is a brand consultant who now lives in New York out of fear of earthquakes (or so he says repeatedly). His apartment—unlike Debbie’s cozy home filled with years of memories and things—is a barren luxury apartment in Brooklyn with stunning views of the Manhattan Bridge.
Despite their many differences and the hundreds of miles between them, Debbie and Peter have managed to cultivate their platonic relationship. Their relationship was so strong indeed that every one of Peter’s ex-girlfriends – who dumped him after six months – knew Debbie, even though they never met her. Fifteen minutes into Your Place or Mine we know where the story is headed. That’s okay — even enjoyable — because McKenna builds a tight story around the couple. Your Place or Mine Less “will they or won’t they?” and more “Why don’t they?”.
Fear is what binds Debbie and Peter, and what keeps them apart. For the last two decades they’ve been playing the role they set themselves in the early 20 . Debbie’s life revolved around her son and provided him with stability. Peter’s existence is structured around bypassing emotional intimacy and early rejection. When they decide to change their lives for a week (Debbie has to go to New York to take accounting classes and exams that will prevent her from advancing at work), they are both forced to confront the cracks and contradictions in their stories.
In keeping with tradition, McKenna’s film echoes entries in the contemporary rom-com canon. Similar to Catherine and Joe in You’ve Got Mail, Debbie and Peter build an intimate relationship through technology (phone calls and FaceTime chats). Like Adam and Emma in No Strings Attached, our two protagonists are old friends with an undeniable attraction to each other. The liberal use of split-screen gives us the opportunity to see how Debbie and Peter have remained close over the years: their early morning conversations and late-night chitchats are mixed with flirtations, casual banter, inside jokes and brief reflections on the past. They talk freely with each other, and that foundation makes what they’re hiding shine brighter. That’s where Witherspoon and Kutcher’s experience with the genre come in handy; they add dimension and romance to a long-distance relationship in the making.
Kudos to the supporting cast gallery, who made our journey alive with the inevitable confession. Zoë Chao stars as Minka, Peter’s ex-girlfriend and Debbie’s millennial fairy godmother in New York. Her costumes (designed by Sophie DeRakoff) and banter will make you wish she was on screen more often. Ditto Jesse Williams, plays Theo, a book editor who finds herself drawn to Debbie during her brief travels. On the other side of the country, Kimmel, who plays Jack, and Tignotaro, who plays Debbie’s closest friend Alicia, bring hilarious humor to their characters as they try to help Peter tell Debbie the truth about him. feel.
By the time we get to the end of Your Place or My Place , this group of characters is already starting to feel like family. And, like the best romantic comedies, you start to miss the unrealistic versions of reality they’re populated with.
Full credits
Distributor: Netflix Production company: Aggregate Films, Hello Sunshine, Lean Machine Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Ashton Kutcher, Jesse Williams, Zoë Chao, Wesley Kimmel, Griffin Matthews, Rachel Bloom, Shiri Appleby, Vella Lovell, Tig Notaro, Steve Zahn
Director & Writer: Aline Brosh McKenna Producers: Jason Bateman, Michael Kors Teagan, Reese Witherspoon, Lauren Neustadter, Erin Brosh McKenna
Executive Producer: Merri D. Howard
Cinematographer: Florian Ballhaus Production Designer: William Arnold Costume Designer: Sophie DeRakoff Editor: Composed by Chris A. Peterson Home: Siddhartha Khosla Casting Director : Ronna Kress Rated PG-10, 1 hour 2003 minute
THR Newsletter
Sign up for THR news daily straight to your inbox
Subscribe Sign up
