I mean it’s not like I didn’t know what I was doing or what I was signing up for when I decided to see a chick flick after reading a pretty intense book, which I’m going to tell you all about a bit later. Since it’s a Hollywood production, I was set to get the full package. A script that has been revised and produced by a thousand different directors. Same format. Same storyline. A bit of change here and there to spruce things up. The likes. Was I disappointed with that expectation??
Meh, Probably so. Or not.
This movie is a 2023 production from the same director of The Devil Wears Prada, Aline McKenna. It begins with a conversation. You’d think this is some intimate conversation two lovers are having the morning after but it turns out to be a phone call between best friends of twenty years.
Debbie Dunn lives in Los Angeles the mother of a smart-ass 13-year-old who is allergic to pretty much everything. She is a doting mom and like the average single parent, her life practically revolves around her son. She has gotten into a program in New York that upon passing the program, would assist her in securing a position as an Accountant and thereby be able to fund her son’s health needs as his health insurance is approaching its expiration date.
Peter Coleman, on the other hand, is a man, quite comfortable with his earnings as a contractor in New York. He’s reputed among the ladies as closed off and emotionless when it comes to relationships leading him to a series of noncommittal entanglements. He lets Debby, his best friend, move into his house for the duration of her program and he offers to take care of her son, Jack.
During this little switch, Debbie encounters Minka, one of Jack’s exes who promptly becomes her unofficial BFF for the duration of her stay. She crosses paths with Theo Martin, an editor and it seems like something is beginning to bloom between them but then she discovers a secret that Peter had been keeping from her. Things begin to untangle and unravel from there and it’s clear that the movie seeks to showcase the depths of friendships that haven’t had the needed closure. Yet.
Peter as well, discovers from the mouthy son of Minka her perspective of him and from a little discovery, also comes to light of his true feelings for her. In the same vein, he tries to build a relationship with Jack and help him gain grounds against his friends turn enemies. Bonds, self-discoveries and understanding begin to dawn.
Where do I begin? Barely ten minutes into this movie, there was something that struck me. It was obvious to me that the characters were trying too hard. Trying to come out as that epic chick flick that’s wrapped in comedy and chemistry. I’m not sure if it was because the characters either lacked chemistry or are naturally not funny people, but the result came out as forced, cliché with a dollop of cringe, at least for me anyway.
Then we move on to character development. The other characters weren’t properly developed. The lesbian bestie of Debbie who is also a mutual friend of Peter’s who tried with fail to interpret her role because her character wasn’t well developed and so it was a struggle to understand her true essence in the story. Then the director may have thought to spruce up the ideal chick flick by incorporating a guy, Zen, in this case, whose story is a tad confusing and quite pathetic in the meaninglessness of his role.
I feel that this may have been a nice movie if the storyline wasn’t bordered on a plot that has been presented over and over again in a genre that has long lost its lustre. Or maybe if the characters had more, zing? Maybe? For want of a better expression. There’s a fine line between an irrevocably mid movie or a television masterpiece and quite sadly, Your Place or Mine, just lacked that for me. The movie in totality is quite forgettable and was predictable in its dialogue and general scripting. A genre and I give it a 3.4 out of 5 stars even though I would still recommend it if you perhaps want to pass time over the weekend.
Images from movie screenshots.
