Home Again (2017)

You know when you see a trailer and you're like, wow this film looks bad? Well, that was my reaction to Home Again's trailer. But I do love Reese Witherspoon so I watched it anyway, consoling myself by telling it would be just another mediocre romantic comedy. And by the way, it looked a tiny bit fun from the trailer I'd seen months ago. Unfortunately for me, it wasn't your average rom-com but something much worse. 

Alice (Reese Witherspoon) is a recently separated mother of two who has returned home, in California, to start over and to be close to her mother (Candice Bergen), a former actress. She is also turning 40 and goes celebrate with her girlfriends. She eventually meets three young aspiring (and homeless) filmmakers and brings them home. The day after, Alice's mother shows up at her house, and, long story short (because I don't have all day and neither do you, I guess), Alice lets them stay in her guesthouse and starts dating Harry (Pico Alexander), one of the three boys. 

The plot is clichéd, predictable, idiotic, unrealistic to say the least and has no development whatsoever. The story starts in a certain way and ends in that same way. There's a lot going on in the middle, a lot of pointless subplots that have a very predictable outcome, but nothing really happens nor changes in this film. And by the way, the ending is so unsatisfactory. The May-December romance is also terrible. 

The characters are just obnoxious. They are flat, bland, one-dimensional characters, living clichés also. There's one thing I have to praise director and writer Hallie Meyers-Shyer for, writing evenly awful characters. It doesn't matter whether they are female or male characters, they all are very poorly written. And frankly, I feel sorry for Reese Witherspoon. She tries to bring her sweetness and charms into this but she ain't god hence she can't save the unsavable. And the overall acting is so dull and lifeless.

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But the worst is yet to come. As if that I've mentioned above wasn't enough, Home Again is also terribly unfunny. I wasn't expecting the most hilarious film of the year but frankly, mainly given the way the film's title was translated here in Italy (40 is the new 20), I was expecting a movie that would play a little on that concept. I thought it'd show this 40-year-old woman having fun, enjoying life. Instead, Alice spends most of her time worrying and not enjoying life. 

The film has its sappy moments, but not a single funny moment. I'm not sure Meyers-Shyer remembered she was writing a comedy because there aren't gags, jokes, absolutely anything in here to make you laugh. At times, Home Again feels more like a drama rather than a comedy. The problem is that there's no drama whatsoever in this film. It's absolutely flat.