It’s a cozy romantic comedy… and a little lazy.
Debbie (Reese Witherspoon) and Peter (Ashton Kutcher) slept together a long time ago…about 20 years ago and then became best friends who call each other every day.
Debbie lives in Los Angeles, has a son, Jack (Wesley Kimmel), whom she often overprotects, and is looking to breathe new life into her dormant career, while Peter lives in New York and specializes in advising companies on rebranding want to design. So Debbie decides to take a class in New York and the two friends swap homes, so Peter will look after Jack for a week. We guess the ending, the feature film’s 109 minutes have passed to get to this happy ending (too predictable).
Since the screenplay by Aline Brosh McKenna (the cult film The Devil Wears Prada, but also the hideous I Don’t Know How She Does It) wasn’t original, it was necessary to make sure the fake couple was believable. Such is the case with Reese Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher, who, however, share almost no scene together (gossip will say that this is exactly why it all works).
Though Ashton Kutcher’s Peter is portrayed as an “adult” and Reese Witherspoon’s Debbie is sometimes smothered, the characters – thankfully – elude certain gender stereotypes. A few funny or touching moments stand out, like the presence of Steve Zahn as a neighbor/gardener/occasional lover and the subplot of Jack’s insecurities.
And if Your Place or Mine doesn’t have the appeal of timeless classics like How to Lose a Boyfriend in 10 Days, Notting Hill, Bridget Jones’s Diary or Let It Go, it doesn’t deserve you! (No, I won’t mention Harry and Sally since their presence on this microlist is so obvious), this romantic comedy remains satisfying and enjoyable…like seeing an old friend or boyfriend again.
Your Place or Mine has been available on Netflix since February 10th.
3 out of 5