It's been a while since I saw a horrifically bad film. August had quite a few stinkers. September seemed to stay clean but October kicks off with some trash in the form of "Home Again". The only thing I will say that is slightly redeemable about this film is that it's perfectly light and harmless. Luckily for the talented team behind this, people will forget it even existed in a few months time. The film began and I had low expectations anyway but somehow it was not even able to reach those. "Home Again" is the type of film that will mindlessly please passive rom-com fans- it will satisfy their needs but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone as it is 90 minutes you will never get back.

There's an interesting scene in the film where a film producer discusses three options for the budding film-makers to transform their short film into- 1. A female lead comedy (oh, how meta!). 2. A found footage romance (please never make this happen) 3. An awards film. Option 3 is described as a film that is legitimately good with lots of handwork and great talent. "Home Again" isn't an awards film...maybe the Razzies?...but it is a female lead comedy and how spot on was writer Meyers-Shyer when commenting that awards films are the only good films out there. "Home Again" gives female lead comedies a bad name and actually paints any Hollywood feature that isn't Oscar-bait in a bad light. I would like to take a moment to remind audiences that genuinely good films do exist- even if they're simply a female lead comedy. Meyers-Shyer probably was not expecting this level of analysis into her line but she wanted to be meta so I guess she wanted audiences to be actively thinking about her screenplay. 

The screenplay itself is ok. It's not horrendously bad and it does the job. The plot moves at a steady pace and of course follows all of the genre conventions. Meyers-Shyer has grown up watching her mother, Nancy make much better versions of this film and has probably put together a checklist to complete when the time came to make her own film. I know Nancy Meyers doesn't always make excellent films, they're usually at least ok, but "Home Again" is definitely a bad film. The plot itself is a little too absurd and unbelievable. It's a knock off version of "Mamma Mia!", just without all of the ABBA songs. Witherspoon's Alice finds herself in a love triangle square PENTAGON with 4 different men. I get that she's single and is free to feel liberated but 3 of those men she falls for are all about a decade younger than her! The primary relationship between Alice and Harry (Alexander) also comes together way too quickly, the audience are not given enough time to get behind them as a couple. There are too many love interests that they all just cancel each other out. The only one who I could believe as an actual love interest was Sheen's Austen. I think that was mostly because the couple had history and were both of a similar age. Nancy Meyers' films can sometimes go on a little too long ("It's Complicated" is 120 minutes long!) but I think "Home Again" could do with some extra time to form more believable relationships.

This is a talented cast. This is probably the worst I've seen from most of them. The reason I had a slight interest in "Home Again" is that it stars Reese Witherspoon, an actress I am fond of. This is the worst I've seen of Witherspoon and what was so frustrating is that I knew she could do so much better. She plays a mother of two daughters in "Big Little Lies" and does it excellently. Here, it's as if Witherspoon is treating this rom-com as a literal joke. Her facial expressions are a little too much and she did not seem to be giving her best at all. Her line delivery was bad and I didn't really sense any chemistry between her and either of the 4 lovers. I don't usually like to lay into actors I like but Witherspoon either took this for the paycheque or made a behind-the-scenes deal with Nancy Meyers to help her daughter's debut out. I'd love to see Witherspoon make a cracking return to the rom-com. Maybe for Nancy Meyers' next film? The only good thing I can say about Witherspoon is that hardly anyone saw or is talking about this film so it should get buried within her filmography. Michael Sheen also has lots more talent than he shows in this film. He has an embarrassing fight scene with Nat Wolff that both will be praying to forget. Speaking of Wolff, it's becoming clear that he lacks range and once again plays a very similar character. He didn't really make an impression and I thought it was hilarious that his character was supposed to be one of the hottest rising actors in the industry right now...if only that was true for Wolff in reality. The other guys, Pico Alexander and Jon Rudnitsky do what they can but neither will be remembered for their performances. Lake Bell also has a small role but like everybody else, it's nothing to write home about. 

It may not work as a romance but do the comedic elements pull through? Unfortunately that's another no. There are less than 5 funny moments in this film. I don't think it even tries to be funny- it just think it can get away with being light-hearted instead of funny and call itself a rom-com. The biggest, and only, laughs came from Eden Grace Redfield who makes up for forced line delivery with brilliant sass and comedic timing. All of her jokes landed and she was possibly the best thing in the entire film. Nothing else was funny. It either came off as dumb or just landed as a dud. 

Films like "Home Again" are the reason why the cinema-going experience is dying. They do not provide an experience that is worth paying to see. Reese Witherspoon has pretty much become a TV star at this point with the tremendously successful "Big Little Lies" and every aspect of that show was better and more well-crafted than "Home Again". Romantic-comedies are never the flashiest or most exciting of films but what gets audiences swarming to see them is great jokes, electric chemistry and a repeat viewing-factor. This could have been a straight to TV or Netflix film and it would have probably fizzled out even quicker. Film-makers (which many have been doing) need to start experimenting with genres and thinking outside the box- Hallie Meyers-Shyer has come into a dying genre using dated conventions and expects to see the same results her mother saw 10 years ago? She needs to think again. 

Don't see ""Home Again". Unless it comes on the TV in a few years time or pops onto Netflix. It's not worth going out of your way to see. Fans of rom-coms? Will be disappointed. Fans of the Meyers family? Will be disappointed. Fans of Reese Witherspoon (or anybody else in the cast)? Will be disappointed. I think you get the idea. This is the worst Reese Witherspoon film I have seen...and I watched "Hot Pursuit". Everybody involved can do better. It's just a shame they're being lead by somebody as inexperienced but self-assured as Hallie Meyers-Shyer. It ticks the genre conventions on paper but it all rubs off as dated and unoriginal on the big screen. There are far better films out there in this genre. All because this is the latest one, it doesn't mean you have to see it. Yes, it may be light and harmless but is that really a good enough reason to spend your hard-earned money on a film?