Reese Witherspoon was the rom-com darling of the 2000s. From Sweet Home Alabama to Just Like Heaven and more, before she became the Reese we know and love today, she was our romantic comedy queen. Pair that with Ashton Kutcher’s own charm and history with the rom-com and a movie like Your Place or Mine should instantly click in your mind. Luckily, the movie itself is a pretty great comedy as well.
Your Place or Mine is a movie that, on paper, shouldn’t work. They’re barely in the same room with each other. And yet you still care about these two characters. The premise is simple: Debbie (Witherspoon) and Peter (Kutcher) slept together one time, decided they were better friends, and have lived their lives as such ever since. Across the country from each other but still, they’re best friends. But when they both have big life changes happening, they’re forced to swap locations and learn a lot about each other in the process.
The movie wouldn’t work if the secondary characters were not as charming as they are though. Seeing Tig Notaro befriend Ashton Kutcher is surprisingly addictive. Pair that with Zoe Chao stealing every scene she’s in and the movie is made by its side characters and their relationships to Debbie and Peter.
But crafting a movie where your two main characters are rarely together is tough. Still, Aline Brosh McKenna brought to life a simple romantic comedy and made us fall in love with Debbie, Peter, and their nonsense just as their friends did and that’s why Your Place or Mine really works. And it helps that Kutcher and Witherspoon really do know how to sell a love story to an audience. And this movie proves they don’t even have to be together to do it.
They give good rom-com
What is so oddly refreshing about Your Place or Mine is simply the reminder than Reese Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher are good in romantic comedies. I think because we had forgone the big movie star led rom-com, many of us forgot that there are some actors who are so incredibly charming in them and this movie was a great reminder of it.
Not everyone could carry a movie where the core of your romance happens over a phone conversation and not in actual scenes together and yet Witherspoon and Kutcher mastered it. It’s just a sweet return to the big stars in rom-coms that we used to love in the 90s and early 00s. It’s been a while since we’ve had a boom like we’re currently in and having these two lead this movie was a delight to watch.
Your Place or Mine is available on Netflix now. And if you’re in the mood for a Valentine’s Day treat, this is the romantic comedy for you!
(Featured image: Netflix)
