‘Home’ run hit
Reese Witherspoon’s wackadoo rom-com sparkles with secret brilliance
‘HOME Again” is the “Kokomo” of movies.
You know the Beach Boys song — with rhymes like “Bermuda, Bahama, come on, pretty mama.” That clunky ode to the Caribbean features heavily on Worst Songs of All Time lists — but in the privacy of your own headphones, it’s as soul stirring as a symphony.
“Home Again,” a crazy romantic comedy starring Reese Witherspoon, is that way, too. You’re always aware it’s not a feat of filmmaking, but you couldn’t care less.
Directed by Hallie MeyersShyer, daughter of rom-com royalty Nancy Meyers, this is a ridiculous movie about a newly separated mother of two (Witherspoon) who invites three hot 20-something guys to move into her guesthouse for the sake of her own reinvention.
It’s completely implausible (though reports say the dudes are loosely based on Owen and Luke Wilson and Wes Anderson), dramatically lacking — and absolutely fantastic.
The movie arrives during the glorious resurgence of Witherspoon’s career after her turn in HBO’s popular drama “Big Little Lies.” Does America want to see this stunning 41-year-old actress enjoy a fling with a 26-yearold Harry Connick Jr. lookalike (Pico Alexander)? Does a pint of Ben & Jerry’s cost $5.99 at C-Town?
Answer to both: Yes. And be sure to pick one up on your way to the theater.
What puts the bonkers premise of “Home Again” inside the realm of possibility is the brilliant casting of Candice Bergen as Witherspoon’s mom, a former cinema siren.
With the easy moral authority of Murphy Brown, Bergen could suggest that you try exfoliating with Pop Rocks, and you’d do it. So when she encourages her daughter to let this hot trio of aspiring Hollywood filmmakers take residence inside her Los Angeles villa, steps away from her young grandchildren, it seems not only socially acceptable but downright ingenious.
What could possibly go wrong?
Well, Reese’s ex, played by Michael Sheen, flies in from New York to discover the Jonas Brothers having breakfast with his kids and is none too pleased. But that’s really the extent of the emotional complications here. There is nothing remotely heavy about this movie.
That is, nothing except for you, after downing that pint of Ben & Jerry’s.