''Your Place or Mine'' is a 2023 American

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film written and directed by

Aline Brosh McKenna Aline Brosh McKenna (born August 2, 1967) is an American screenwriter, producer and director. Her credits include writing '' The Devil Wears Prada'' (2006), ''27 Dresses'' (2008), ''Morning Glory'' (2010), ''We Bought a Zoo'' (2011) and co-cre ...

in her directorial debut. The film stars

Reese Witherspoon Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon (born March 22, 1976) is an American actress and producer. The recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards, she ...

(who also produced) and

Ashton Kutcher Christopher Ashton Kutcher (; born February 7, 1978) is an American actor, producer, entrepreneur, and former model. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a People's Choice Award, and nominations for two Young Artist Awards, a S ...

as best friends who decide to swap houses for a week. Jesse Williams,

Zoë Chao Zoë Carroll Chao (born September 19, 1985) is an American television and stage actress and screenwriter, principally known for her role as Isobel in '' Strangers'', and Zoe in '' The Afterparty''. Early life Chao was born in Providence, Rhode ...

, Wesley Kimmel,

Tig Notaro Mathilde O'Callaghan "Tig" Notaro (born March 24, 1971) is an American stand-up comedian, writer, radio contributor, and actress. She is known for her deadpan comedy. Her acclaimed album ''Live'' was nominated in 2014 for the Grammy Award for Be ...

, and

Steve Zahn Steven James Zahn (; born November 13, 1967) is an American actor and comedian. His film roles include ''Reality Bites'' (1994), ''That Thing You Do!'' (1996), ''Stuart Little'' (1999), '' Shattered Glass'' (2003), ''Sahara'' (2005), '' Chicken Li ...

also star. The film was released on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

on February 10, 2023. It received mixed to negative reviews from critics, who criticised the lack of chemistry between Witherspoon and Kutcher.

Plot

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

in 2003, after an evening of playing poker with another couple, Debbie Dunn and Peter Coleman have sex and spend the night together in her home. Twenty years later, Debbie and Peter are best friends. He has moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and become a successful businessman, while she still lives in Los Angeles and works as an accountant at her son Jack's middle school. Debbie calls Peter on his birthday, and they discuss her plans to head to New York soon to complete an accounting program to help her get a better-paying job. Debbie's ex-husband's actress girlfriend, Scarlet, is to watch Jack for the week but flakes when she is offered a role in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

for two weeks. Peter, who has just broken up with his girlfriend and is between jobs, offers to go to LA to take care of Jack. In California, Peter learns the extent of Debbie's overprotective parenting and decides to help Jack loosen up a little. Peter gets skybox tickets to a

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

game and encourages Jack to invite along two classmates, but this goes awry when they ignore him. Meanwhile in New York, Debbie attends her accounting classes and meets Peter's ex-girlfriend, Minka, who invites her out for drinks. At the bar, Minka helps her catch the attention of book publisher Theo Martin. She also shows Debbie Peter's unpublished novel. After reading the manuscript, Debbie pretends to be a freelance editor as she tries to convince Theo to give it a chance. Peter grows closer to Jack and convinces the hockey coach to let him try out for the team. Meanwhile, Debbie goes out on a date with Theo, which ends with them spending the night together. Debbie accidentally sets off the apartment's remote camera, leading to Peter witnessing them. Disturbed, he goes to a bar and meets an old girlfriend but cannot bring himself to sleep with her. He realizes that he is in love with Debbie. On Debbie's last day in New York, she passes her exam and unintentionally discovers Peter's hidden mementos of her. When Debbie meets with Theo, he tells her he has gotten her an interview with

Macmillan MacMillan, Macmillan, McMillen or McMillan may refer to: People * McMillan (surname) * Clan MacMillan, a Highland Scottish clan * Harold Macmillan, British statesman and politician * James MacMillan, Scottish composer * William Duncan MacMillan ...

so they could potentially date. However, she confesses that she is in love with someone else. In Los Angeles, Jack's hockey tryout goes well, but he ends up injured. Peter calls Debbie, and she is enraged that he endangered her son although Jack appears to be okay. She rushes to leave and get back home to Jack and tells Peter to be gone before she arrives. Peter and Debbie come face-to-face at

LAX Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the W ...

. After a heated argument, he declares that he is deeply in love with her, and has been since they met, and they kiss passionately. Six months later, they are married, Peter has become a published author and moved in with them in California. She is an editor at an indie publishing house, and Jack is on the hockey team.

Cast

as Debbie Dunn *

as Peter Coleman *

as Minka * Jesse Williams as Theo Martin *Wesley Kimmel as Jack *

as Alicia *

as Zen *

Rachel Bloom Rachel Leah Bloom (born April 3, 1987) is an American actress, comedian, writer, singer, and producer. She is best known for co-creating and starring as Rebecca Bunch in The CW musical comedy-drama series ''Crazy Ex-Girlfriend'' (2015– ...

as Scarlet *

Griffin Matthews Griffin Matthews (born 1981/82) is an American actor, writer, and director. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a B.F.A. in musical theater. Matthews served two years in the Peace Corps in West Afri ...

as Professor Golden *

Vella Lovell Vella Lovell (born September 13, 1985) is an American actress, known for playing Heather Davis in The CW comedy-drama series ''Crazy Ex-Girlfriend'' as well as providing the voice of Mermista in ''She-Ra and the Princesses of Power'', Khadija in ' ...

as Becca *

Shiri Appleby Shiri Freda Appleby (born December 7, 1978) is an American actress and television director. She is best known for her leading roles as Liz Parker in the WB/UPN science fiction drama series '' Roswell'' (1999–2002) and Rachel Goldberg in the L ...

as Vanessa

Production

Development

The film was announced in May 2020 with

distributing the film, which stars

, and is written and directed by

in her feature directorial debut. In August 2021,

joined the cast. In October 2021, it was announced Jesse Williams,

and Wesley Kimmel had joined the cast.

Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

began in October 2021. Filming locations included Montague Street in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

Release

''Your Place or Mine'' was released on February 10, 2023, by

Reception

Decider Decider is both a real word and a "Bushism". It may refer to: * ''Decider'' (website), a pop culture website operated by the ''New York Post'' *'' Bill Maher: The Decider'', a stand-up comedy special * Decider (Turing machine), a Turing machine th ...

''s Anna Menta unfavorably compared the film to ''

Sleepless in Seattle ''Sleepless in Seattle'' is a 1993 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Nora Ephron, from a screenplay she wrote with David S. Ward and Jeff Arch. Starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, the film follows a journalist (Ryan) who, despite be ...

'', noting as flaws for ''Your Place or Mine'' the lack of chemistry between its lead actors, the unnatural feel of the split-screen dialogues, and an apparent absence of tension in the build-up to the pair's eventual reunion.

References

External links

* * * * {{Metacritic film 2023 films 2023 directorial debut films 2023 romantic comedy films 2020s American films 2020s English-language films American romantic comedy films English-language Netflix original films Films about mother–son relationships Films produced by Reese Witherspoon Films set in Los Angeles Films set in New York City Films shot in New York City Films with screenplays by Aline Brosh McKenna