'Your Place or Mine' almost qualifies as average
No one is spoiling anything by saying that when a romantic comedy involves best friends (Reese Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher) who slept together in 2003 but have been platonic ever since, everyone should know A. That sounds too much like the great “Sleeping with Other People” and B. They’re going to wind up together in the end.
But, wait, in “Your Place or Mine” the characters live in different cities and spend nearly the entire movie apart. Can writer-director Aline Brosh McKenna (“27 Dresses,” “The Devil Wears Prada”) create chemistry between the characters anyway? And find enough for them to do between the setup and the payoff?
No. And no.
Sadly, the tale of Debbie (Witherspoon) and Peter (Kutcher) is always trying too hard and not trying enough, laboring for laughs with stock quirky characters (including Steve Zahn as Debbie’s neighbor/occasional lover and Zoe Chao as Peter’s, well, same) and oh-so-many predictable, contrived scenarios. The plot hinges on the best pals swapping residences for a week, with Debbie flying to New York and taking a dull class she thinks is the mandatory, practical move for a single mom and Peter heading to L.A. to hang with Debbie’s son Jack (Wesley Kimmel) and inevitably bring a looser vibe to what is usually a pretty restrictive household. (This is both because Jack is allergic to nearly everything and because Debbie is afraid of taking chances, though this is never properly reconciled with her mountain climbing ex-husband).
For a story that half-heartedly attempts to advocate for the courage to take risks, “Your Place or Mine” is so incredibly safe and underwhelming by design. The second you see the name Jesse Williams in the credits, you know he’s going to be the impossibly charming, attractive guy that comes into Debbie’s life at just the right time in the plot. Of course the dynamic between Debbie and Peter is beyond simplistic, suggesting their bond has endured throughout two decades without any complication despite everything that has happened to them individually (including multiple rehab stints for Peter on top of the end of Debbie’s marriage) running parallel to whatever may or may not be between them secretly.
For what it’s worth, Kutcher, despite very much playing a type (leaves every relationship after six months) who is also quite boringly wealthy, kind and handsome so as to negate any adversity whatsoever, manages to inject sweetness and spontaneity into a movie that often feels auto-created by screenwriting software. Witherspoon’s just going through the motions, though, not really given any choice thanks to the way McKenna’s script turns Debbie into a dishonest buffoon. And the bland way the characters are drawn and their physical separation struggles to escalate to the swooning ending that tries and fails to justify two hours/20 years of treading water. What’s meant to be sweet and harmonious feels juvenile and false.
The most interesting parts of this premise aren’t in “Your Place or Mine.” What were the best times Debbie and Peter shared in all those years? When did they struggle to maintain the friendship? (Cough, “When Harry Met Sally,” cough.) The version of this movie that embraces life and love with even a shred of the drama, difficulty and feeling of real people might almost work. The version on Netflix aims squarely for a shrug, and gets it.
C-
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