Reese Witherspoon’s Sexy New Comedy Is A Hit On Netflix
Reese Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher's new romantic comedy, Your Place or Mine, is a Netflix original and currently tops the streaming service.
In a release timed for Valentine’s Day, Netflix’s latest original film has been a massive success for the streaming service. According to FlixPatrol, rom-com Your Place or Mine debuted at the number one spot following its release on the 11th. Of course, a romantic comedy timed for Valentine’s Day starring Reese Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher is an easy layup for any studio.
Reese Witherspoon stars as Debbie, and Kutcher is her former one night stand and now best friend Peter. Living in Los Angeles and New York respectively, the two friends swap coasts when Debbie needs someone to babysit her middle-school aged son. In doing so, Peter finds out how uptight Debbie is about parenting while Debbie learns Peter is secretly working on a novel.
On opposite coasts, Peter and Debbie learn more about each other, setting the stage for a reunion and a rekindled love. Also co-starring Tig Notaro, Zoe Chao, Jesse Williams, Steve Zahn, and Rachel Bloom, the film may have a basic rom-com plot but it’s stuffed with familiar faces. Your Place or Mine may star Reese Witherspoon, America’s Sweetheart and the Queen of rom-com, but critical response to her new movie has been disappointing.
Rotten Tomatoes has the film at 32% fresh with a 42% audience score, which is dismal compared to previous romantic comedies from the two leads. The common critical consensus is that it’s a by-the-numbers film and wastes the potential of pairing Reese Witherspoon with Ashton Kutcher. Your Place or Mine, and the two leads, have been compared to a classic romantic movie, Sleepless in Seattle.
The 1993 classic starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan features a similar cross-country plot with the two leads barely sharing any screen time together. One of the differences that helps the Hanks/Ryan film succeed over the Reese Witherspoon/Ashton Kutcher variation is that the latter has them as friends already instead of strangers falling in love. It’s eerily similar to the downfall of another Kutcher film, No Strings Attached, which made the same choice compared to his wife’s film, Friends with Benefits, which had Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake playing strangers that hook up.
Despite the poor critical reception and unwelcome comparisons to a classic piece of early 90’s cinema, Your Place or Mine is also a welcome return for Reese Witherspoon to the genre that she does better than almost anyone. In recent years, the Cruel Intentions star has been busy with The Morning Show on AppleTV+ and Little Fires Everywhere on Hulu, both in front of and behind the camera as one of Hollywood’s most prolific producers.
Reese Witherspoon is also working on a third Legally Blonde film, alongside her frequent collaborator, Velma creator Mindy Kaling. The actress has one more rom-com on her deal with Netflix, in addition to films she’s producing for the streaming giant. With her busy schedule and prior commitments, if fans want to see Witherspoon in romantic comedies, Your Place or Mine will be the best opportunity, despite its faults, for the next year.
