I watched Your Place or Mine, the new Netflix Rom Com with Reese Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher and I can report that it is dreadful. Rubbish script, not Rom or Com in any way at all. Very disappointing.
It’s truly a great source of sorrow and regret that no one is making good films in this genre anymore. Having now listened to 3,428 hours of the brilliant film podcast, Blank Check, I have learned that even though these films often make £200 million and upwards at the box office, the studios don’t bother anymore because why make millions when you can make billions with a Marvel-type movie?
Anyway, there was another thing that bothered me while I was watching Your Place or Mine. Both Witherspoon and Kutcher’s characters are established as people who like to read. Not in any kind of thoughtful or interesting way. I think they literally say something like, “You love books” to each other. Nuanced, right? There’s also a split screen scene where they are in bed in separate cities, reading. Witherspoon is enjoying Zadie Smith’s White Teeth, solemnly furrowing her brow to demonstrate her character’s intellect. I can’t make out what Kutcher is reading, despite multiple zooming in attempts but it’s a book.
Here’s what annoyed me. These two lead characters are woefully underwritten and have no discernible personalities and so making them book lovers seems to be some kind of lazy shorthand for them being clever and interesting without having to go to any real effort in the script. As if owning a few novels is in and of itself a redeeming character trait or evidence of emotional depth. It’s Literary Washing! (Credit to my friend Lisa for coining the phrase while I ranted to her about my irritation) I am certain I have seen this half-arsed shortcut elsewhere on numerous occasions but I’m racking my brains to think of specifics. If you have any ideas, please do say so in the comments.
The other thing it makes me think of is celebrities who performatively carry copies of James Joyce under their arms at Fashion Week (and this New York Times piece about Book Stylists from last year). Why bother reading and having interesting opinions about literature and the world when you can just carry a book accessory as evidence of your intellect? I bet you the pages are blank.
In happier news, I’ve watched and read (I mean actually read) a few wonderful things recently.
This Could Be Everything by Eva Rice
Rice is the author of the 2005 cult classic, The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets which is a book that I adored in my 20s and regularly re-visit when in need of unadulterated reading pleasure. This Could Be Everything captures a similar sort of magic. Set in 1990s Notting Hill, it’s a coming of age story about love, loss, hope and…canaries. You’ll see. There’s sadness but it’s funny too and if you grew up in that era, the specificity of the music and fashion references is thrilling. Rice is brilliant at writing youth but actually, I always love the grown ups in her books too. They are so comforting but they’re allowed to be complicated too. A treat of a novel.
Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Another enjoyable read if you’re a music obsessive. Written like a Rolling Stone magazine oral history, it tells the story of a Fleetwood Mac-like band in the 1970s. Sex, drugs, rock and roll and a healthy dose of lusty longing - it’s all in there. Lots of fun (plus there’s a TV adaptation coming soon).
The Last Of Us
I’m not breaking any ground here when I say how unexpected and artful this series is but I had to have a little swoon. Have you watched episode 3 yet? Beautiful.
Happy Valley
A renegade cop in the body of a funny, middle aged, Northern ballbreaker. What took me so long to watch this? Sarah Lancashire is amazing.
See you next week!
Hannah
Oh this is so helpful, thank you! And I’ll definitely check out that book
I think Ashton is reading Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott in that scene. But why, unless his character is a writer? 🤷🏻♀️