Home Again (2017)

This fluffy comedy about a separated 40-something woman moving home to LA, having an affair with a much younger man living in her guest house with his colleagues, and trying to keep herself, her girls, and her mother happy felt old school, especially since we saw it in a historic Westwood theatre while visiting Los Angeles five weeks ago. But probably some of that old school feel is owed to the heritage of its director/writer Hallie Meyers-Shyer (her debut for both), the daughter of veteran rom-com couple Nancy Meyers and Charles Shyer (Meyers was last blogged for It's Complicated, she last worked with her now-ex-husband Shyer on The Parent Trap 1998 remake, and is a producer on this project).

Reese Witherspoon (after I wrote about her in Inherent Vice, she co-starred and co-produced the terrific mini-series Big Little Lies) is a great choice for the conflicted Alice. An even better choice is Candice Bergen (her glorious career has earned her an Oscar nomination for Starting Over (1979), and several Emmys and Golden Globes for her 247 episodes of Murphy Brown; and other highlights include Carnal Knowledge (1971), Rich and Famous (1981), Ghandi (1982), Sweet Home Alabama (2002), 91 episodes of Boston Legal (2005-08), the not-very-good remake of The Women, and a cameo in Rules Don't Apply) as Alice's former movie star mother, complete with lovely old photos of Bergen.

The three young men are played by Nat Wolff (last blogged for Grandma), Jon Rudnitsky (21 episodes of Saturday Night Live which, apparently, I did not see), and the impossibly handsome Pico Alexander (new to me) as Alice's paramour. Michael Sheen (most recently in these pages for Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer) is credible as Alice's estranged husband, and Lake Bell (last blogged for Million Dollar Arm) has a hilarious bit as a spoiled trophy wife.

John Debney (most recently scored The Jungle Book) wrote some music but I can't remember it nor find it online. It doesn't help that he wrote a song called Home Again for a sci-fi movie called Zathura. But I recall enjoying the songs. Here's a list of some of them.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are hating on this one, averaging 31% to its audiences 52. It's definitely not great art. But we picked it because we wanted something light on vacation. If you want to see it, it'll be available to stream in November and rent or buy in December at the usual outlets.