Entertainment,  Film,  Reviews

‘Your Place or Mine’ Fails to Revive the Romantic Comedy Genre with Zero Chemistry

Photo courtesy of Netflix.

SPOILERS AHEAD.

Your Place or Mine was released on netflix on February 10, 2023. Its premise follows Debbie (Reese Witherspoon) and Peter (Ashton Kutcher) as they swap houses for a week and discover what they think they want might not exactly be what they need. Today, I want to tell you my thoughts on the film. Let’s get started.

Romantic comedies are typically cliché and predictable. It’s in their DNA. There’s a different between a good rom-com and a bad rom-com. This film leans toward the bad side. Let me explain why.

The plot felt almost nonexistent to me. I don’t know what it was. The story felt unfinished. I feel as if maybe if there were more flashback scenes from the beginning of Debbie and Peter’s friendship it would’ve made the story better. the pacing was a bit off at times. 

The writing wasn’t that great. The script felt unnatural and there were lines of dialogue that didn’t feel human to me. It feels like Netflix just duplicates their rom-com formula in every rom-com they release. Like you’re telling me that Aline Brosh McKenna wrote this? The woman who wrote The Devil Wears Prada, We Bought a Zoo, and 27 Dresses? Yeah, I don’t think so. We Bought a Zoo and 27 Dresses are two of my favorite films of all time. Let alone the writing in 27 Dresses is way better and the chemistry between Katherine Heigl and James Marsden is so much more authentic.

Reese Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher’s chemistry was so forced it’s not funny. There was no authenticity that was seen or felt. It’s too bad because this film could’ve been a good rom-com. There were red carpet photos of Witherspoon and Kutcher of the two of them awkwardly standing next to each other that spread on the internet like wildfire. This is exactly what their chemistry felt like: disconnected and awkward.

Of course you can’t have a rom-com without an airport scene. Now I usually love airport scenes but this one made me want to poke my eyes out. Where is the chemistry? Since the two leads spend like 3/4 of the film away from each other, it’s weird to finally see them face-to-face.

It’s somewhat entertaining. I liked Theo’s (Jesse Williams) character a lot but it’s too bad that he was used as a ploy just for Debbie to dump him later on. Zoë Chao’s Minka was more interesting and fun than Debbie. The side characters always end up being better than the main characters and lead me to believe that they should’ve been the stars of the film.

I liked that books were written in as a part of Debbie and Peter’s personalities. Other than that, it’s a prime example of a bad rom-com with zero chemistry between its leads.

 

 

Your Place or Mine is exclusively streaming on Netflix.

Director: Aline Brosh McKenna

Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Ashton Kutcher, Jesse Williams

Producers: Jason Bateman, Michael Costigan, Reese Witherspoon

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