‘Your Place or Mine’ pairs Ashton Kutcher and Reese Witherspoon in a split-screen rom-com

It’s possible to add “Your Place or Mine” to the list of split-screen rom-com, where the leads (in this instance, Reese Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher) run on separate tracks.

Sometimes that strategy pays well (think “Sleepless in Seattle”), but it doesn’t, in this case, a Netflix film that’s about as bland as its title suggests.

Some people made fun of Kutcher and Witherspoon for their awful red carpet images, but after you watch the movie, you’ll understand why they seemed so uncomfortable together. Then, the movie is as much about real estate as romance and the classic dilemma of pathways taken and not chosen.

Peter (Kutcher) and Debbie (Witherspoon) have remained friends for 20 years, despite their brief past (characterized as a “hookup”). They keep in touch frequently despite living on opposite coasts: he is a rich playboy business consultant in New York (Batman without the fancy gadgets), and she is a single mother in Los Angeles raising a kid, Wesley Kimmel, 13 (Jimmy’s nephew), whose allergies make her a little overprotective.

When Debbie’s babysitter suddenly canceled on her the night before she was to spend a week in New York obtaining a degree that would enhance her profession, Peter stepped up and offered to travel to LA, stay at her home, and look after her child while she occupied his lavish apartment.

Similar to those reality TV programs, but with better music and fancier props, they both experience life as the other for a short time.

As seen in the Netflix romantic comedy “Your Place or Mine,” starring Ashton Kutcher.
Starring Ashton Kutcher, “Your Place or Mine” is a romantic comedy on Netflix.
JoJo Whilden/Netflix

The plot of “Your Place,” written and directed by “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” creator Aline Brosh McKenna (who also produced alongside Witherspoon and Jason Bateman, among others), centers on Peter and Debbie coming to terms with their differences as they swap houses. She is a stickler for routine, while he is free-spirited or “irresponsible” in her eyes.

Weak fuel for even this type of vehicle, so various subplots emerge, such as Peter trying to loosen up restrictions on Debbie’s child and Debbie discovering an unpublished book Peter has written, which comes into play when his eager-to-be-chummy ex-girlfriend (Zo Chao) introduces her to a dashing (and also divorced) publisher (Jesse Williams).

Both Brosh McKenna and her cast members are familiar with the genre (Brosh McKenna wrote “27 Dresses”). The supporting cast, which includes Steve Zahn as a hippy neighbor in Los Angeles, is interesting enough to carry its weight.

But even when given a pass since it’s a romantic comedy, the format of the film makes it a bit of a drag as it alternates between Debbie and Peter’s stories following Peter’s very weak explanation of why they aren’t together: “Because she’s she, and I’m me.”

“Your Place or Mine” will perform just fine for Netflix, distinguishing itself from a pack of Valentine’s Day-timed rom-coms because Witherspoon is she, and Kutcher is him. The uncomfortable red carpet images were indeed a letdown no matter where the show was seen, but there were other problems as well.

On February 10th, “Your Place or Mine” will debut on Netflix. It has a PG-13 rating.