The romantic comedy Modern film was very popular in Hollywood during the 90s, but since then it has been losing weight to the point that the big studios rarely bet on this type of production anymore. Netflix it’s one of the big exceptions, but it can’t be said that they’ve made any truly memorable movies so far either.
With the presence of Reese witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher In front of the cast as the main hook to attract the public, the proximity of Valentine’s Day should help make it a new success for the platform. Another issue is that it is a good film, since it trusts its two protagonists so much that it neglects everything else and in the end we are left with a film as accessible as forgettable.
Flying low
It is not difficult to detect in ‘Your house or mine’ traits of other successful romantic comedies, from the fact that its two protagonists spend almost all the footage apart (as in ‘Something to remember’) or the two main characters basically swapping houses (as in ‘Vacation’). It would be easy to continue listing other elements, some more specific and others much more general, which make it clear that the writer-director Aline Brosh McKenna It has not been too complicated and has opted for what has already been shown to work on other occasions.
And it is that we must not forget that ‘Your house or mine’ may be McKenna’s first film as a director, but she had previously written titles such as ‘The Devil Wears Prada’, ’27 dresses’, ‘Morning Glory’ or ‘A place to dream’. She was also the co-creator and showrunner of ‘Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’, but unfortunately, the title in question fits much more with her career on the big screen than with the series starring Rachel Bloom.
From the first moment you can tell that McKenna try to go for a closer approachalthough by no means realistic. In fact, there are plot arcs that only sound possible in one scenario, such as, to give an example but without going into detail, what Witherspoon’s character does after discovering a secret from Kutcher’s, but the truth is that everything ends up being a both accessory, as evidenced by the lack of interest shown in developing the other possible romantic interests of the two protagonists.
That exacerbates something that anyone facing a movie like this takes for granted: the two main characters are destined to end up together. The key is to make the viewer really want that to happen, thus creating a sense of satisfaction for something they already counted on beforehand. That also applies to other genres and I’ll give a clear example: Who wants to see a slasher in which the killer doesn’t get to kill anyone? But it is not worth that this happens, you have to know how to decorate it.
The first problem with ‘Your house or mine’ is precisely that, since a romantic comedy needs some kind of conflict that casts doubt on the fate of the protagonists. It is not so much to make the viewer suffer as to get them involved, and it never hurts to have a secondary with a purely comic function that animates the function. They could have played that role here. Steve Zahn either Zoe Chao (‘The Afterparty’), but when push comes to shove his characters are doomed to complete irrelevance.
Insubstantial
Nor is it that the rest of the accessories to the protagonists contribute much -and it’s a shame, because Jesse Williams (‘Grey’s Anatomy’) could have given much more of himself as Kutcher’s romantic rival-, since ‘Your House or Mine’ prefers to go straight to the point, avoid having real difficulties along the way -even the only one that hay is solved in such a simple way that its real impact ends up being minimal- and that its viewing is a perfect companion while you do other things, be it ironing clothes, tidying up the living room or simply chatting with your friends on WhatsApp. If it is that it almost seems designed to be able to see it while distracted and not miss anything important, because there is simply nothing that is.
What we are left with then is what Witherspoon and Kutcher can contribute in a simple, predictable and not particularly fun environment. Their chemistry had been questioned during the promotional campaign, because until Mila Kunis, the actor’s real-life wife, has claimed that they looked weird together. However, that happens very rarely, and their telephone conversations do manage to convey that closeness that the film seeks in general terms. It’s not memorable either, but enough so that watching ‘Your house or mine’ doesn’t get heavy.
In fact, both work better in those interactions than when they have to go it alone, since Witherspoon focuses on recovering a type of character that he abused years ago and that he seemed to have left behind. She does not do it far from bad and she is very comfortable in an interpretation that she does not demand too much of, but that familiarity is a double-edged sword that here I am not clear that she ends up compensating. For her part, Kutcher relapses into the immature adult role, but dispensing with all kinds of excesses, which neutralizes the moments in which he “spoils” her son.
In short
‘Your house or mine’ is a movie that does not bother but in no case conquers and which should only be approached by those viewers who are not allergic to this type of romantic comedies, because not even the most enthusiastic of this subgenre will find much to celebrate here.
In Espinof: The 22 Best Movies on Netflix in 2022