“Your Place Or Mine” has all the markers of a great romantic comedy: The friends to lovers trope! A script from “27 Dresses” screenwriter / “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” showrunner Aline Brosh McKenna! Reese Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher, both of whom have aged like fine wine! A wild cast of supporting characters played by legends like Tig Notaro, Zoë Chao, Vella Lovell, Rachel Bloom, Shiri Appleby, Steve Zahn, and Jesse Williams!

And yet. It just… doesn’t work.

The best romantic comedies are fundamentally stories about personal growth that end in a successful romantic pairing. Look at “When Harry Met Sally” or “You’ve Got Mail” or Witherspoon’s best rom-com, “Sweet Home Alabama.” All of these movies deliver a clear narrative arc in which the leads learn fundamental truths about themselves that allow them to finally be ready for a loving relationship with the other. “Your Place Or Mine” merely gestures at such growth, telling us that it’s happening — somewhere! off-screen! — rather than showing it to us.

Witherspoon’s tightly-wound, “Saran wrap” mom (or Munchausen-by-proxy mom, depending on your interpretation of her anxieties about her child’s seemingly unlimited allergies) Debbie and Kutcher’s novelist-turned-soulless-corporate-consultant Peter, who you know is living an unfulfilled life because he organizes his books by color, barely register as human beings. They are more like archetypes, brought into the realm of humanity only because they are played by skilled actors who can deliver a passable performance even when they’re phoning it in.

That’s not to say that “Your Place Or Mine” doesn’t have any moments of delight. There’s the star-studded cast and some well-delivered jokes, mostly by Tig Notaro. But ultimately, “Your Place Or Mine” is a film best watched while folding your laundry.

On this week’s podcast, we tried to unpack why we felt so “meh” about what we hoped would be a movie that we’d rewatch again and again and again. Hope you enjoy! Xo

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