Home Again

Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Michael Sheen, Candice Bergen, Pico Alexander, Jon Rudnitsky, Nat Wolff, Lake Bell
Directed by: Hallie Meyers-Shyer
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
2017

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A single mom (Reese Witherspoon) allows three men to move into the guest house near her family, and all their lives are changed as a result.

Review:

Tim: I really like Reese Witherspoon, but I was stunned at what a bad movie Home Again was. It felt like a bad first draft of a script, not a fully fleshed out movie that multiple people signed off on. It felt like the most watered down Hollywood garbage, an attempted feel-good story that has no basis in reality whatsoever. It's the kind of film that give romantic comedies a bad name- a poorly conceived movie that simply does not work. I was aggravated at this utter disappointment.

The whole movie doesn't make sense. We're supposed to believe that a single mom of two invites three total strangers to move into the guest house and live with them. They have complete access to her home and her children. And of course, because this is Hollywood, no one has a problem with this (not really, maybe a friend makes a comment or something). Her mom loves them and pushes for it. And of course, the three young men just have hearts of gold. One of them falls for her, but then they kind of stop seeing each other, although they still live together. And this weak story just continues. Her ex-husband visits (he's the only sane one, because he thinks the living arrangement is idiotic) and that throws everything for a loop. I'm not suggesting that anything in this movie couldn't happen, but it's the presentation that just undermines everything. This doesn't feel like a movie rooted in reality- the three men who the mom invites happen to be filmmakers who love her father's films. I mean, come on. The movie just pushes us way too far. It's too convenient, the writing is just so lazy. I never believed a single thing that happened. It felt like a film geared towards women who want to see Reese and smile and live in a fantasy world. Sure, there's plenty of room for escapism at the movies, but it has to make some kind of sense. Home Again (which is a terrible name for this movie) doesn't make sense.

This is the writing and directing debut of Hallie Meyers-Shyer and I have to say, I am stunned by how little talent she's shown here. You would think that someone writing and directing a film would care enough to make something good- you have no one else to blame in that case. Meyers-Shyer delivers such a lackluster film, I certainly hope she doesn't get the chance to make any more movies. And, if you're thinking that I'm being overly critical because I'm not the target demographic, my wife (who is the exact target demographic) felt very similar to me. Meyers-Shyer makes her writing and directorial debut by delivering a total dud.

Now, as frustrating as this film was, I give Reese Witherspoon credit for showing up and delivering as good of a performance as she could. Her character is so weak, but Witherspoon has made these movies many times before. She knows how to deliver a good performance. That helps the viewing experience, although I have to admit this isn't anywhere near Witherspoon's best. The bad writing often makes her look silly. I liked seeing Michael Sheen here, too. He similarly gets shortchanged by the terrible script, but he's a good actor and he was fun to watch. The rest of the cast is decent- the three guys are charismatic (although hard to believe) and the kids were pretty cute. The cast prevents this from being a truly terrible movie, but man, Meyers-Shyer really hamstrings them.

I'm all for new voices getting to tell stories and I love the idea that more women are getting opportunities in Hollywood. I sincerely hope this leads to better movies in all genres, but especially romantic comedies (let's face it, men are responsible for giving us some truly cringe-worthy rom-coms). Unfortunately, Meyers-Shyer (who is really young, so I'm trying to withhold total judgment) missed her chance here. This is all around a bad movie.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 5.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: This Means War, Hot Pursuit