[center][i]Your Place or Mine[/i] (2023)[/center]

My favorite movie in middle school was [i]13 Going on 30[/i] (2004) — flash forward to: heartthrob Mark Ruffalo playing the antagonist in [i]Poor Things[/i] (2023) — which is completely off topic, but I can’t help mentioning because I find it amusing. The reason I mentioned this is because after I watched [i]United States of Leland[/i] (2013) in high school, I stopped paying attention to mainstream films. 

So, why was I watching something like [i]Your Place or Mine?[/i] It’s just the way the universe was made. I was in a public establishment. I didn’t even recognize Ashton Kutcher at first. The movie was playing with no sound, and I had to read the subtitles. 

I liked the premise being of a naive, neurotic single-mother with her misfit son. I liked that she had an overbearing and cynical bestie looking out for her best interest, complimented with a cup of coffee. I liked that her neighbor was lingering around trying and failing to get her undying love, all while she obliviously attempted to simply keep afloat. (Honestly, I think it took the movie to put things into context for me.) I loved that her to-be love interest goes through failing grandiose efforts to parent her son. I liked that he had that male touch many single-moms (often tragically) can’t seem to offer.

The movie got a 30% on Rotten Tomatoes, but [i]The United States of Leland[/i] got a whopping 34%. The single-mother still lingering in me can’t help but recommend [i]My Place or Yours[/i]. It had iconic, cute, and silly light-hearted moments, and of course, you know, the movie circumvents around characters with a love for literature. So, if you want to veg out and watch Ashton Kutcher run around with more make-up than Queen Elizabeth. Here’s your chance.