Is Home Again With Reese Out Already
Normally there is cipher wrong with indulgent escapism as a cinematic commodity. Simply information technology'due south probably more than a little tone deaf correct at present to trot out to come across a cream-puffy Hollywood rom-com fantasy involving coddled well-off people. Consider that ane of the bigger setbacks faced by at to the lowest degree three characters at some point in "Abode Again" is that they choose to consume common cold leftover lasagna direct out of the same reddish Le Creuset pan. Oh, the humanity.
After observing thousands of Houstonians forced out of their ain now-demolished homes by a devastating alluvion and their cocky-sacrificing rescuers, I plant myself from the get-go having difficulty summoning much sympathy for Reese Witherspoon's Alice, a newly separated mother of two who we first meet as she sobs in her bath on her 40th birthday. Her New York City-based music-biz husband (Michael Sheen) manifestly refused to give up on the hard-partying lifestyle that such a profession requires. Then she and her sitcom-sassy form-school daughters have moved back to Los Angeles, where her ex-actress mother (Candice Bergen, the only bandage member who is able to ring much zing from her semi-comedic lines) and a set up-made network of airheaded gal pals applaud her return.
Not that Alice has bug finding a new home since she inherited a vintage spread from her belatedly Oscar-winning director-father, a revered '70s icon, as well as a sporty archetype automobile. (Sorry, I don't have the factor that allows you lot to instantly know a make and model, but the sloping roof suggests a Porsche). The one-floor, hacienda-style domicile is large enough to accommodatenot only a built-in puddle and a courtyard spacious enough to agree group yoga classes for her friends. There is also a roomy cottage that enables three cash-strapped 20-something filmmaking brothers (Nat Wolff, Jon Rudnitsky and Pico Alexander, a name that befits a cocktail) to camp out with her while waiting for their film bargain to go through. That Alice just met this trio on a drinking rampage while celebrating her big 4-0 at a bar and virtually slept with ane of them (Alexander, who is adorable and knows it)—well, this deed of charity seems to be the very least she can do. That makes for i big kooky makeshift family. Then her estranged hubby has second thoughts and shows upward unannounced at her door. Supposedly amusing testosterone-induced blastoff-male antics follow.
The blizzard of white privilege that bedecks "Abode Again" is practically blinding (I counted three ethnically diverse actors in modest speaking roles). If this soundssomething like a junior-league variation on something similar "It's Complicated" with the addition of our heroine relying on her trio of firm guests as unpaid child-care providers, a tech troubleshooter and a live-in boy toy, that's because it is. Eau de Nancy Meyers, the queen of upper-class affairs of the centre amid decadent décor porn, is all over this. But she is actually on the sidelines as 1 of the producers. Instead, this is the brainchild of her 30-year-old novice writer-managing director daughter, Hallie Meyers-Shyer, and the organic apple certainly didn't fall far from the artisanal tree.
To be fair, I confess to having a lovingly curated weak spot for much of Meyers' oeuvre afterwards she separate from hubby Charles Shyer (who fared less well without her input): "What Women Want," "Something'southward Gotta Requite," "The Holiday," "The Intern"—primo wish-fulfillment chick flicks one and all, and each eminently re-watchable. But even if "Dwelling Again" was released when in that location wasn't a national crisis affecting a big portion of the country, it would still seem somewhat off. Meyers-Shyer has said that she wanted to reflect the fact that women seem to be getting divorced earlier in their lives these days combined with a gender twist on a May-December romance. Fair enough. Only the hurdles that Alice faces aren't all that relatable or even much of a problem once she summons the courage to verbally confront them. Her nice estranged husband wants her dorsum. Her like shooting fish in a barrel-admission young sexual activity partner has maturity bug. Her get-go client in her new career equally a decorator is a stereotypical self-centered nightmare, a function that totally wastes Lake Bell's talents.
Speaking of which, after her awards-worthy work in "Wild" and on Television receiver's "Big Little Lies," Witherspoon is taking at to the lowest degree 2 steps backward equally Alice. She is just as well smart of an actress to believably play a pushover who is decumbent to anxiety attacks and being taken advantage of by others. When her brief imitation of Bong's snarling Labradoodle is her funniest scene, at that place is a problem here.
Evidently, the nigh unbelievable part of the film—that Alice would permit three strangers to move in with her and her young daughters—really happened to a woman that Meyers-Shyer knew. Fine. Merely her job was to brand it believable in her movie instead of but a plot contrivance. Yes, the coincidental-chic interior designs smooth as much equally her mom'due south e'er did. But I never really felt at home with "Habitation Again."
Susan Wloszczyna
Susan Wloszczyna spent much of her most xxx years at USA TODAY as a senior amusement reporter. Now unchained from the grind of daily journalism, she is ready to view the world of movies with fresh eyes.
Now playing
Film Credits
Habitation Again (2017)
97 minutes
Latest blog posts
Comments
Source: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/home-again-2017
0 Response to "Is Home Again With Reese Out Already"
Post a Comment