Ashton Kutcher Said He ‘Desperately’ Needed to Make This Film
The new Netflix movie Your Place or Mine debuted earlier this month, starring Ashton Kutcher and Reese Witherspoon. Some critics think that the lighthearted new rom-com is part of a happy new trend in movies. But for Kutcher, the best reason for making the film has nothing to do with what’s happening in the movie industry at all. He had a much more personal motivation, one many of us can probably relate to.
The appeal of ‘Your Place or Mine’
On February 10, Your Place or Mine debuted, and according to the BBC, it’s another sign that the rom-com is back. The classic lighthearted romance features Witherspoon and Kutcher as Debbie and Peter, long-time friends who live on opposite coasts. They swap homes for a week, with Peter coming to stay in California with Debbie’s 13-year-old son, while she camps out in his swanky New York apartment.
As the friends walk in each other’s shoes for a while, they start to see each other in a different light, turning their long friendship on its head, and romance soon follows. It’s a lighthearted movie, meant to be fun as much as romantic.
After years of thrillers and superhero movies, the genre does seem to be coming back to life. This can be seen in big names like George Clooney and Julia Roberts returning to their rom-com roots with Ticket to Paradise. Fans of this style of movie can probably look forward to more of them in the near future.
But Kutcher didn’t sign on to the project out of a desire to reinvigorate the genre. His motivation was something many people have probably felt over the past few years.
The movie gave him something he’d ‘desperately’ needed
In a YouTube interview for Variety, Kutcher talked about what drew him to the movie. He explained that he’d always wanted to make a romantic comedy with Witherspoon and that he’d always appreciated the work of director Aline McKenna, who helped him many times before. However, the biggest reason he wanted to do it was a lot more personal.
“I think the big thing is coming out of the pandemic, coming out of Covid, when I read the script, like, this is the movie I wanted to see,” he explained. “It was happy. And it was fun. And it was hopeful,” he said. “It was all those things that I really desperately had been searching for to find on my little menu of menus. And so that’s what made me excited about it.”
Response to ‘Your Place or Mine’
Although Kutcher describes the movie as fun, the response to it has been a bit more lukewarm. On Rotten Tomatoes, it’s earned a lackluster rating from critics of 32%. Viewers scored it a little higher, at 38%. Reviews range from disappointed to mildly positive.
“Your Place or Mine is… fine. It does not ruin a great American rock band’s catalog. But doesn’t make the viewer feel much of anything, which is antithetical to the rom-com,” said Melanie McFarland from Salon.
“Your Place Or Mine is filled with upbeat performances by Reese Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher, who star in a film that helps bring back the fun and light-hearted enjoyment of romantic comedies,” countered Lindsay Press, Culturess.
Whether critics love it or not, for Kutcher it’s an important step back into happiness after the grim days of Covid. Many people can relate to wanting to indulge in something just for fun after the past few difficult years.
