Straight American women flooded movie theaters everywhere to see Reese Witherspoon surrounded by handsome young white men this September.
The film Home Again tells the story of a mother and her daughters in the aftermath of a marital separation.
This emotionally tumultuous time becomes even more complicated when a group of three well-dressed filmmakers played by Pico Alexander, Nat Wolff and Jon Rudnitsky, find themselves living in Witherspoon’s home.
Home Again exists to make viewers feel good about themselves. Movies often do this by telling stories of horrible people so audiences can feel superior.
Home Again simply follows a beautiful woman as she makes bad decisions that magically have no consequences, telling the audience that their worst instincts are probably fine.
In the movie, Witherspoon’s character lets three complete strangers live in her house, and they do not destroy, steal or disrespect her stuff in any way. This is unrealistic. In fact, the three men set aside their own lives and careers to cook for her, make their beds and, at times, raise her children.
This gentle rom-com is the most promising contender in the race for most predictable story ever told. When the handsome men schedule a meeting for the same time as the little girl’s play, you know that they will triumphantly choose to walk out on the meeting to support their new weird family unit, risking their careers for love.
The movie fails in one specific area, the length of the reaction shots. At many different points in this movie, I caught myself feeling uncomfortable with how long I was being force to stare at Michael Sheen smiling endearingly. I predict that at least 15 minutes could be shaven off of this movie if some of these reactions were made more bearable.
Overall, Home Again is not a menace to society. It will not ruin anyone’s life or destroy anyone’s will to live, but it has little to contribute to the Earth. If you are willing to sacrifice plot, complex characters and interesting dialogue for the chance to see Witherspoon kiss a young dude named “Pico,” by all means, buy yourself a ticket just like I did.
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