Home Again (2017)

“Home Again” stars Reese Witherspoon, Nat Wolff, Jon Rudnitsky, Pico Alexander, Michael Sheen, and Candice Bergen.  Released on September 8, 2017, the film is about a single mother who faces an unexpected problem when she invites three young men to move in with her.

The film features the directorial debut of Hallie Meyers-Shyer, the daughter of writer/director Nancy Meyers.  I just want to make it clear, I’m only doing this for love.  I wasn't actually planning on reviewing this film, but since my mother and my aunt are big fans of Witherspoon, I had absolutely no choice but to take them to see it.  Why?  Because I love them, and I thought it looked decent based on the marketing.  It’s pretty challenging to review a romantic comedy like this due to the fact that I haven’t watched that many rom-coms throughout my life, but I got to do what I have to do to make my readers happy.

With Nancy Meyers’ daughter behind the camera for the first time, you can clearly tell that this is the type of romantic comedy that’s more fitted for a female audience.  Similar to Meyers’ other works like Something’s Gotta Give, The Holiday, and It’s Complicated, the film features some of the romantic elements that’ll make people’s hearts feel warm inside while also including a few comedic moments that’ll give them a good laugh.  For a story like this, it makes sense to include those types of moments as long as they’re well-balanced with one another.  All I can say about it is this: If you like to watch romantic comedies that make you feel good, this film will give you exactly that.  If not, then you’re better off watching “It” for the second time.  Despite its sense of mediocrity and some predictable moments, the storytelling in this film was somehow tolerable.  It’s not as strongly written as the other well-received rom-coms, but it does its part in developing that amount of charm that Nancy Meyers is known for.  The cast also did their part in carrying the film forward, including Witherspoon as Alice Kinney.  My only major flaw with it was its use of comedy.  I didn’t seem to mind the romantic parts, but when the actors are trying to deliver something funny into the mix, the results wound up being forced or flat for me.  I think most of the target audience will find some of the jokes funny, but to me, it didn’t really work out.

Overall, “Home Again” is just another romantic comedy that delivers on the charm and its tolerability.  It has everything that a rom-com watcher could ever want, ranging from a good cast to its charming storytelling, while also adding nothing new to the table for those outside of its target audience.  My mother and my aunt actually liked this one more than I did, so that just proves that this film is only designed to impress people who like to watch feel-good romantic comedies.  Once again, I am only reviewing this because I love my mother and my aunt.

C+