Your Place or Mine – A Low-Hanging Romcom

Fluffy romcoms have consistently found an audience forever it seems like and it’s hard to imagine them losing their foothold any time soon as the subgenre continues to arguably produce the same films give or take a detail here or there. When it comes to Your Place or Mine, it is no different for better or worse. What has often saved the genre over the years is the star power that respective films lean on both to sell their narratives and to promote themselves to prospective audiences. At this point, it feels like a futile gesture but with Reese Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher front and center this time around, there is definitely some promise here. Unfortunately or unsurprisingly, the film goes for every low-hanging derivative and predictable plot beat in order to build its narrative that goes on perhaps a little longer than it needed to be while clocking in at almost 2 hours. Those predictable beats will inevitably make for a dull experience for a large portion of audiences, however, the aforementioned star power of Witherspoon and Kutcher go a long way and help make up for a lot of its faults. That being said, the film is a cute yet forgettable watch that doesn’t bring anything new to the table.

Your Place or Mine follows a pair of friends named Debbie (Witherspoon) and Peter (Kutcher) whose lives change after each spend time on opposite coasts. After once dating and almost immediately breaking up 20 years prior (the film never ceases to remind viewers of the different time periods), the now long-distance friends kept their close friendship over the years in spite of the distance between them with Debbie living in Los Angeles and Peter living as a brand consultant in New York City. To allow the single mother to pursue her lifelong dream in NYC, Peter agreed to watch Debbie’s son Jack (Kimmel) in LA while she got a degree to better support her son. As each switched places, the contrast in not only homes but circumstances could not have been any more different. An adjustment period quickly followed which was where viewers truly learned about Debbie and Peter as watching how they overcame it was most of the fun. This territory and what it eventually led to won’t come as much of a surprise to anyone, however, the charm factor here was still powerful enough to somewhat make up for it. Expect plenty of moments of self-discovery through several moments of hardship and lessons that brought the three of them together as in the end, absence only makes the heart grow fonder.

Though just about everything about Your Place or Mine is completely average and derivative, Witherspoon and Kutcher as Debbie and Peter do keep the film watchable, individually more so than collectively not only for what the plot required them to do. The three subplots that saw each separate and then them together for which the former was a lot longer felt like three different films with Peter essentially being a dad to Jack while Debbie was away being the most interesting. Debbie in NYC was dull for the most part as the script did not do Witherspoon any favors but Kutcher’s charisma as Peter made him fun to watch and relatable as he fumbled his way with Jack. He and Kimmel’s chemistry was easily the best part of the film. This may come as a surprise to those expecting Witherspoon and Kutcher’s chemistry to lift the film. However, their limited screen time together went a long way to limit that potential. Meanwhile, Zoe Chao and Tig Notaro steal some scenes respectively in supporting roles.

At the end of the day, Your Place or Mine is a serviceable romcom that is no different from the countless others out there. Fans of the genre or Witherspoon or Kutcher will have a good time but nothing about it stands out or will give it any staying power long after the credits roll.

still courtesy of Netflix

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.