YOUR PLACE OR MINE: A Generic Comedy That Promises More Than It Delivers

Netflix is far from new within the genre of romantic comedies. The same can be said for its leads in its latest venture Your Place or Mine. Both have become predominant faces of the modern rom-com genre. Reese Witherspoon has led the last two decades with undeniably loved films including Legally Blonde, Sweet Home Alabama, How Do You Know, and Four Christmases – just to name a few. Likewise, Ashton Kutcher has shined in the beloved genre as well, with film favorites No Strings Attached, Just Married, Killers, and Valentine’s Day rom-com career standouts. Looking at the success of each, it seemed both a potential success and an inevitability they would one day find themselves in a romantic comedy alongside one another. And while Your Place or Mine finally brings these stars together, it fails to truly reach the mark of success.

Weak Beginning

Best known for The Devil Wears Prada and 27 Dresses, writer, director, and producer Aline Brosch McKenna is a name in her own right in the genre of romantic comedies. On paper, the combination of McKenna, Kutcher, and Witherspoon reads like a knockout of the ballpark and an instant classic. And while it retains a sense of charm and easy viewing, Your Place or Mine fails to live up to the promise of the unity of its talent.

The initial issue with Your Place or Mine is not the film itself, but the massive weight of expectation that it carries. These are big names that carry big expectations. There is an expectation in the formula, star power, pace, and resolution. Even its supporting characters carry weight within viewership expectation, their inclusion to properly prop up each lead to a satisfactory revelation and resolution just as important in a romantic comedy as they might be in a drama. While it may initially meet these expectations early on with its animated quips to help time stamp the action in the 1990s, Your Place or Mine quickly sheds this initial playful nature and high-energy pace, putting the breaks on its narrative and opening sequence, leaving it to feel drawn out and losing its sense of authenticity.

The film continues to struggle in its connection between characters and to its audience as it attempts to establish the lives of Debbie (Reese Witherspoon) and Peter (Ashton Kutcher) on either side of the country – Debbie in Los Angeles and Peter in New York City. Much of this is done through exposition, Debbie and Peter having uninterrupted conversations with one another, and supporting characters with vague relationship connections filling in the blanks. Had the early portion of the film been tighter in its editing, pace, and script, the film would have had stronger legs to stand on as it continued into its second and third acts. In these early moments, it feels as though the film wants to draw inspiration from films like Sleepless in Seattle and The Holiday, yet it fails to truly create a cohesive and connective picture of each character, rather leaving the lead-up to their locale switch and overall relationship hollow.

Fleshing out he film and a scene stealer

The film begins to find its legs as the initial conflicts are introduced and they switch locations – Peter to Los Angeles to watch Debbie’s son Peter (Wesley Kimmel) while she is in New York completing her degree for accounting. As Debbie and Peter begin interacting with other characters outside of just the exposition between them during their phone or facetime calls, Your Place or Mine begins to feel more worldly and lived in, the expansion of interactions creating a more fleshed-out film. And while Steve Zahn‘s Zen, Jesse Williams‘ Theo, and Tig Notaro‘s Lis bring a breadth of characters that infuse the romance and the comedy, it is truly Zoe Chao‘s Minka that steals the show.

Honestly, we need a more of Zoe Chao, and we need more of Minka. Chao steals every scene in Your Place or Mine, so much so viewers will conclude the film wishing there had been more of her – and for her Minka to have her own spin off film. She is sassy, supportive and commanding of the life she wants to lead, and Chao dives into the role with no hesitation. As Chao‘s Minka becomes the sidekick Debbie needs in New York, she becomes the sidekick Your Place or Mine needs as well. After her roles in Senior Year and Your Place or Mine, Chao has shown she can fill a variety of roles in the romantic comedy genre, and it may be time for Netflix to give her a vehicle all her own to shine.

Conclusion

Your Place or Mine is not a terrible rom-com, still leaning into the formula viewers love and delivering heart and humor while still being an easy watch. Yet, as entertaining as it is, it fails to truly deliver the cohesive romantic comedy its talent and expertise promises.

Your Place or Mine was released on Netflix on February 10, 2023.

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