The Mercury News

COUCH THEATER

- BY DEMI TAVERAS

“Your Place or Mine” (PG-13) -- Since the arrival of February marked the beginning of the most romantic time of the year, it is the perfect opportunit­y to dive into a rom-com! First up is a new film out now from rom-com veterans Reese Witherspoo­n and Ashton Kutcher. They star as Debbie and Peter, a pair of long-distance best friends who once hooked up on the night they first met. Twenty years later, they’re both single, and Debbie’s barely gotten a break from taking care of her teenage son, Jack. So, Peter offers to take care of Jack, switching places with Debbie for a week while she stays in his apartment and enjoys a well-deserved vacation. But little do Peter and Debbie know how much this one week will uncover deeply buried feelings from the both of them. (Netflix)

“Spoiler Alert” (PG-13) -- The second rom-com film for this week brings a bit more drama with its comedy. Based on the memoir by Michael Ausiello, this film features Jim Parsons (“The Big Bang Theory”) and Ben Aldridge (“Fleabag”) as Kit and Michael, and just as the title suggests, the spoiler comes before the story actually begins. In the first scene of the film, Kit dies in his husband Michael’s arms after an 11-month battle with terminal cancer, with the rest of the film depicting their love story through Michael’s eyes. As with any relationsh­ip, the two go through ups and downs, but every circumstan­ce ends up making them stronger, leading up to that moment where Kit takes his very last breath. Sally Field and Antoni Porowski (“Queer Eye”) also star in this very touching film, out now. (Peacock)

“Sharper” (R) -- For those who’d rather skip all the mushy-gushiness, “Sharper” -- with an impressive cast comprised of Julianne Moore, John Lithgow, Sebastian Stan and Justice Smith -- is a psychologi­cal thriller that premieres on Feb. 17. Lithgow portrays billionair­e Richard Hobbes, who’s in a relationsh­ip with Moore’s character, Madeline. Madeline’s son, Max, is a con artist, who’s dying to get his hands on the type of money Richard has. This leads Max to convince his girlfriend, Sandra, to get her claws into Richard’s sheepish son, Tom, and make him fall for her so that the two can eventually con him out of Tom’s huge inheritanc­e. But don’t be fooled -- nobody, not even sweet Madeline, is who they seem to be. (AppleTV+)

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 ?? Courtesy of AppleTV+ ?? Justice Smith, left, and Julianne Moore star in “Sharper”
Courtesy of AppleTV+ Justice Smith, left, and Julianne Moore star in “Sharper”

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