‘Your Place or Mine’ (2023) Review: Incompatible Romantic Spark
You’ll often hear people say, “What happened to the romantic comedy?” in response to the lack of chemistry between the two leads. We no longer see Julia Roberts racing away on a horse in a wedding gown or Billy Crystal running to the party to confess his love to Meg Ryan on New Year’s Eve.
One of the key ingredients to creating the perfect romantic comedy is chemistry. The genre works to provide a perfect balance of romance and comedy. But when these ingredients don’t mesh properly, it results in a disappointing movie. That is the case with Aline Brosh McKenna’s Your Place or Mine, which misses the main ingredient, perhaps even more, essential to a romantic comedy movie. Your Place or Mine, which stars Reese Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher, follows two best friends who are also total opposites and introduces familiar tropes that never seem to escape past the story’s central issues.
Twenty years ago, Dennis (Witherspoon) and Peter (Kutcher) hooked up in Los Angeles, but they never continued a romantic relationship. Fast forward to the present day, they still keep in touch — talking incessantly on the phone day and night. Dennis is a single divorced woman taking care of her son, Jack (Wesley Kimmel), in Los Angeles, while Peter abandoned his dream of becoming a writer and moved to New York to work as a brand consultant. Her entire life revolves around taking care of Jack and trying to get a career advancement as an accountant. Dennis signs up for a week-long course to improve her career. Unfortunately, the program is in New York. When Peter finds out that Dennis’ babysitter bailed, he offers to swap houses with Dennis and take care of Jack himself. While Peter develops a friendship with Jack, Dennis realises she has missed out on many opportunities. They discover hidden secrets that might potentially rekindle their love affair once again.
An essential part of the romantic comedy genre is to make the audience believe that the two lead characters have chemistry. The romance in Your Place or Mine falls flat. Witherspoon, who starred in 2002’s romantic comedy Sweet Home Alabama, doesn’t have any chemistry with her co-star, Kutcher. The movie suggests that the characters have only met a few times during their decades-long friendship. The characters constantly talk on their phones, which is meant to show that they have chemistry since it is a long-distance friendship. The setting isn’t entirely the issue here, which puts the characters on two opposite ends of the country. Also, the rom-com tropes, such as the classic friends-to-lovers, opposites attract, and house swap, don’t blunder the movie’s potential romance. Kutcher and Witherspoon's on-screen characters have no romantic spark. Their characters seem better off as friends than as romantic interests.
Moreover, Your Place or Mine references Peter’s struggle with rehab and alcoholism. In the movie, he reveals that Dennis helped him with it and drove many hours to see him get better. While the story tells that their friendship and the so-called simmering romance began 20 twenty years ago, these references don’t elevate the movie. It serves no purpose to the story whatsoever, and adding unnecessary details like this drags the movie.
Regardless, Your Place or Mine has some lighthearted, funny moments with Peter, who tries to help Jack find new friends and gain confidence by trying out hockey. Dennis, on the other hand, steps out of her comfort zone and goes on a date with Jesse Williams’ Theo with the help of Peter’s ex-lover, Minka (Zoë Chao). Minka only exists to introduce Peter’s only written novel — which is placed inside an oven. Dennis finds herself wrapped in an affair with Theo while also trying to figure out if she should be a writer or an accountant. The supporting characters are fun, but their only purpose in the story is to help Dennis and Peter’s arc. It leaves Minka and Theo without any journey other than to fulfil the lead characters’ stories.
Your Place or Mine is certainly not the best romantic comedy ever made since it lacks the key ingredient that makes the genre special. Due to the lack of chemistry, Witherspoon and Kutcher’s characters aren’t believable enough to end up together. Also, some of the references seem to take away from the movie and add no value to enhance the story. While the tropes are familiar and fun to revisit in the genre, Brosh McKenna’s directorial debut leaves a bitter taste of romance.
Your Place or Mine is currently streaming on Netflix.
