Home Again

The romantic comedy has long been derided for its tendency to focus on the petty problems of well-off, white and beautiful people. Hallie Meyers-Shyer’s directorial debut unfortunately encourages this prejudice, which her own mother (and producer) Nancy Meyers managed to prove wrong with her films. Home Again is a tone-deaf, embarrassing film, memorable only for some hilariously misjudged lines and its all-round incompetence.

Reese Witherspoon plays Alice, a draft version of her character from Jean-Marc Vallée’s critically acclaimed mini-series Big Little Lies. She struggles with her divorce and lives with her two daughters in the gorgeous house of her late filmmaker father in California. Her business endeavours so far include photography and fashion design – both have been disastrous. On the “crazy” night of her 40th birthday, she takes home a twentysomething aspiring director (Pico Alexander, irritating dandy). If this sounds like masterpiece material, it doesn’t deliver: drunk, the boy pukes in the bathroom before anything happens. Cut to the morning after, and his clothes have magically disappeared.

Immediately, a trio of his filmmaking bros, whose awful-looking short film could apparently get them into Hollywood, move into Alice’s place, after her mother convinces her that living with three hot young filmmakers is definitely what she needs. Pretending to challenge the age-gap taboo, Meyers-Shyer then focuses on the bemusement of all involved. Worse still is how she forcefully builds a barrier between young and old when the romance between Alice and her beau ends after the most trivial argument in film history. Exasperating mishaps follow. It all ends in hugs with a half-baked lesson about friendship, independence and how not to make a romantic comedy.