‘Your Place or Mine’ Netflix Movie Review - 90s Nostalgia!

Your Place or Mine reminds me a lot of the 90s and early 2000s romantic comedies and it is no coincidence. After all, the movie is made to cater to that specific generation, with them even picking actors who were major stars back in the day, Ashton Kutcher and Reese Witherspoon. The two of them have done plenty of romantic comedies and are known for this type of role. 

The premise is that Debbie (Reese Witherspoon) and Peter (Ashton Kutcher) have been best friends for a long time. The film begins with the two of them hooking up and then the screen fading to 20 years later when they practically talk on call every second of the day. Despite being far away from each other in polar opposite cities, Los Angeles and New York, they are still pretty close. Debbie is now a single mom who is very overprotective of her son Jack and Peter is now a big New York hotshot. 

When Debbie isn't able to find someone to watch over Jack during her time in New York for a course, Peter decides to take care of Jack. And that is how we get into the house swap situation. The rest of the film deals with the two of them exploring their situations in life, romantic and otherwise. 

It is also obvious from the get-go that Peter still has a thing for Debbie and whether he is able to acknowledge his feelings for her and confess to her or not is a major plot point of the film. 

This film due to its very nature has a vibe that would remind you of the early 2000s and the sitcoms that were popular during then. Ashton Kutcher sounds and feels a lot like a mix of Jim (John Krasinski) and Ben Wyatt (Adam Scott) from NBC's The Office and Parks and Recreation respectively, while Reese Witherspoon summons the memory of a Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) from Parks and Rec. (If you're a Parks and Rec fan, this film feels like fan fiction of what would've happened if Leslie Knope and Ben Wyatt never got together). The two actors carry the film by being extra 'adorkable'. This makes the film quite easy to watch. 

There's also a decent supporting cast with Steve Zahn and Zoe Chao being the comic relief and they work to some extent. However, the real stars of the film are the main cast. Initially, you do feel like you know all the beats and flows of this film because you've seen films like it a million times before and you are right! It is very predictable and cheesy but regardless of that it still manages to make you feel good and that is what makes this film good. 

It is aware of the tropes it has and it tries to satirize them a little bit by acknowledging them in the opening and closing credits. It is a celebration of the genre of romantic comedies, paying homage and recreating various scenes from other memorable romantic comedies from the early 2000s. Some might call it a nostalgia-bait film and it is, but the thing about nostalgia is that it works quite well in making a film-watching experience pleasant. 

And that's why despite a simplistic plot line with little to no surprises on the way and a lot of cheesy/predictable plot points, this film still made me feel good at the end. And I think I'll take that. It is a nice, light-hearted film that is good to watch after an exhausting day. It is warm, comfortable, and heartwarming with a  decent amount of corniness. If you're someone who enjoyed the era of rom-com and want to see these guys acting their hearts out as older versions of themselves from those rom-coms. Then this film is definitely for you. 

Final Score – [8/10]
Reviewed by - Aayush Chaurasia
Follow @AayushKumar144 on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times