Was the 10 year wait for Your Place or Mine worth it?

Imagine paying millions to put Reese Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher in a movie, but they only meet right before the end.

That’s the main idea behind Your Place or Mine, the new romantic comedy that Available February 10th in the Netflix catalogue is. The two former rom-com icons lead a long-distance friendship via smartphone. Their chemistry must hold this film together even though they are almost never in the same place.

Reese Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher end a long film slump with Your Place or Mine

When Ashton Kutcher and Reese Witherspoon were making romantic comedies on a regular basis, TikTok didn’t exist and Netflix Original movies were a distant dream. Both have not only retired from the ailing genre, but from films in general.

It’s been 10 years since Kutcher last starred in a movie (if anyone remembers jOBS) and Witherspoon was most recently a producer (The Song of the Crayfish). Your Place or Mine, however, feels like we’ve traveled straight back to 2005 with them – and lugged a few smartphones with us.

Ashton Kutcher plays Peter, who moves from company to company on business, owns a characterless apartment in New York and has never had a relationship that lasted more than six months. Reese Witherspoon plays Debbie, an overprotective single mom with a cute little house in Los Angeles who gave up her dream of becoming an editor for a pragmatic solution. Both are friends since a one night stand many years ago. They’re the kind of people only found in romantic comedies: beautiful, charming, full of hidden talents, and made for each other without even knowing it.

For reasons no one really cares about exchange accommodation for a week. They are getting closer despite the vast landmass of the North American continent lying between them.

Is Your Place or Mine worth it on Netflix?

Starting from the stars, Your Place or Mine is a Netflix major event. With Aline Brosh McKenna (The Devil Wears Prada) in the director’s chair, and Jesse Williams (Grey’s Anatomy) and Tig Notaro (Army of the Dead) in supporting roles, they have a top-class crew at their side. Nevertheless, there is Your Place or Mine surprisingly unspectacular, even for a romantic comedy. The story doesn’t offer any surprises and efforts to tie the movie to reality in any way seem well-intentioned at best.

Your Place or Mine was made for Netflix, but it could have been released 20 years ago. That adds to its charm.

If you prefer romantic comedy with an R rating, strong language or a modern twist, you will be disappointed in this film. Who expects laughter as well.

Your Place or Mine, on the other hand, is worthwhile for anyone who longs for an easy-care cuddly blanket in the form of a film. Because although Kutcher’s character, for example, hides an enormously dark background story, the film shows no interest in it. A deeper examination of Peter’s nomadic existence and Debbie’s need for control would call into question the good mood and the fundamental possibility of the two of them being happy together.

Other people can make films about it. Your Place or Mine serves solely as a vehicle for the chemistry of its cast. Interestingly, the combination of Witherspoon and Kutcher works best when they squabble like Doris Day and Rock Hudson did in split-screen. Then they hold this film together with their pure star power. One almost wishes the two would never meet in real life.

In any case, the Netflix film as a whole feels like a vintage reunion: It was nice to see these familiar faces again – although you actually have nothing to say to each other. But that’s not too bad. After 111 minutes you can hiss away.

10 years of Netflix Originals: These series have defined the streaming service

Ten years ago, Netflix changed the world of series forever with the release of House of Cards. Suddenly streaming and binging were the big buzzwords in Hollywood. But what has happened since the launch of House of Cards?

In the podcast, we dive into the history of the Netflix original series, which can be divided into four phases. In the beginning it was all about wild trial and error and experiments, but in the later phases it was mainly brands and blockbusters like Stranger Things and Wednesday that took over.