It takes no stretch of the imagination to call When Harry Met Sally … (1989), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), and The Holiday (2006) three of the most significant pillars in the contemporary romantic-comedy blueprint. The trio — two from Nora Ephron, one from Nancy Meyers — serve as the upper echelon of what this subgenre can (and should) be. Knowingly indebted to the staples of the genre’s past, examining love in the modern age, and gazing ahead to what it might look like in the future of the digital age, there’s a certain timelessness to these works despite being firmly rooted in specific times and places.
For her feature directorial debut, Your Place or Mine, longtime screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna has borrowed quite a bit from the Big Three of rom-coms. It has the decades-spanning will-they-won’t-they? of When Harry Met Sally …, the cross-country divide and single-parent representation of Sleepless in Seattle, and the house-swapping setup of The Holiday, all rolled up into one bright, shiny (or, rather, Netflix sheen-y) package. In theory, this is a recipe for the first great romantic comedy of 2023. In practice, a list of perfect ingredients blended together and heaped onto a plate is not nearly as appetizing as meticulously crafted, expertly made cuisine.
The film begins on a fateful night in 2003. Debbie (Reese Witherspoon) and Peter (Ashton Kutcher) are soon-to-be college grads with their whole lives ahead of them (and, more imminently, a one-night stand in front of them). When Debbie finds Peter gone the next morning, she reasonably assumes that’s that. Flash-forward 20 years, and it’s clear she couldn’t have been more wrong. Not only have the two kept in touch through the years, but they’re also the very best of friends. Living on opposite ends of the United States — her in Los Angeles, him in New York City — has had no impact on their bond. The pair have no secrets, much to the embarrassment of Debbie’s son, Jack (Wesley Kimmel), and the chagrin of Peter’s ever-rotating cycle of romantic partners.
When Debbie’s upcoming trip to New York City is derailed at the last minute by a flaky babysitter, Peter surprises her with a proposal (not that kind): He will come to LA to watch Jack, while she continues on with her planned trip to New York. Now living in each other’s homes for a week, they are able to examine their lives and relationship in a new light. For Debbie, there’s a realization that it may not be too late to pursue the career — and, thanks to a chance encounter with a professional hero (Jesse Williams), the love life — that she once deemed incompatible with motherhood. For Peter, the sage wisdom of Jack and Debbie’s inner circle (Tig Notaro and Steve Zahn) helps to unlock a new perspective on his long-stifled feelings about the one who got away but never left.
Although Your Place or Mine is McKenna’s first time directing a film, she has been a fixture in what one might term Messy Girlboss Cinema for almost two decades. Her writing credits on The Devil Wears Prada (2006), 27 Dresses (2008), Morning Glory (2010), and I Don’t Know How She Does It (2011) demonstrate her prowess in this field, but in the past decade or so McKenna’s interests have shifted decidedly toward television rather than features. Fresh off a four-year tenure as writer, director, executive producer, co-creator, and showrunner of cult-classic musical comedy Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2015-19), McKenna has landed on Netflix’s doorstep, which turns out to be the ideal place to drop this considerable downward step for her previously reliable brand of rom-com charm.
One could allot a monograph’s worth of pages to the number of ways feel-good American comedies have changed over the early 21st century. In fact, this critic has already done so twice in the past few weeks alone — see Shotgun Wedding (2022) and 80 for Brady (2023). Alas, Your Place or Mine complicates the conundrum: If all the right parts are present and accounted for, then why isn’t the whole package working? One possible answer can be found in the Ephron-Meyers formula. Your Place or Mine calls back to the past and looks down on the present — the TikTok and keto jokes that feel expired on arrival — but it forgets the most important aspect of the genre’s canon: the act of forward-thinking.
The films of Nora and Nancy do not hide their adoration for Old Hollywood classics, nor do they shy away from including sharp commentary on the present-day reality of falling in love (whenever and wherever that present-day happened to be). However, they juggle one other essential component, too: They blaze new trails. Disappointingly, Your Place or Mine is not interested in breaking virgin ground. Fans of The Devil Wears Prada and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend can vouch for McKenna’s ability to look back, down, and forward in one swift motion, but it’s just not happening here. With any luck, the filmmaker’s next effort will be one that not only nails the balance but also warrants revisitation and reflection in the decades to come.
Your Place or Mine is now available to stream on Netflix.
