Features

‘Home Again’ Review: We Laughed, We Cried, We Embraced Our Future Inner Cougar

I’ve loved Reese Witherspoon movies forever – from Cruel Intentions to Legally Blonde to Sweet Home Alabama to Walk the Line and so many more, I have never missed one of her movies. She’s always been an actress that is relatable. Her vulnerability shines on the screen in every movie that she is in.

I’ve also loved Nancy Meyers movies forever. If there is anyone that understands angst, heartache, and the beauty of falling in love, but also a woman being able to stand on her own. She produced Home Again. So combine two of my favorites and well… you guessed it, I was sold.

Sweet Home Alabama has always been my favorite movie of Reese’s – I am always into romantic comedies and that movie just hit me in the feels. It’s been awhile since a role of hers had made me feel the same way – that was until I watched Home Again.

Now, if you aren’t familiar with Home Again – you’ve been missing the chance to stare at some pretty beautiful people in the trailer.

The movie stars Reese Witherspoon, Pico Alexander, Nat Wolff, Jon Rudnitsky, Michael Sheen, Candice Bergen, and Lake Bell.

There are some things that you need to know right off the bat –

1 – You will fall for Pico Alexander. Like total put the poster up on the wall, make him your screensaver, and commit to scribbling your name with his.
2 – Michael Sheen shines in a way that you never thought. He’s vulnerable and jealous and the scene with him and Nat Wolff will have you dying laughing.
3 – Lola Flannery and Eden Grace Redfield will have huge careers.
4 – This movie isn’t what you think it is & thats what makes it amazing.

So lets get down to it – Alice Kinney has turned 40 and in her life – she’s lived it for her husband, her kids, her family. She’s moved back to Los Angeles from New York City and she’s starting over.

What better way to start over than to let it all go with a wild night for your birthday. A wild night turns into being picked up by a much younger man and taking him home. You know and leaving his friends on the couch.

But all is not what it seems – because we soon find out exactly who Alice is and the three young filmmakers that she met end up staying in her guest house temporarily.

It’s always hard to write reviews when you want to give away the entire plot and tell you why everything works. I will be the first to admit there a few lags in the story – but not in a bad way. In a way that you are searching for more information.

You want to know why Alice left New York and why she isn’t divorced yet.

You want to know more about this movie that the boys are pitching.

You want to know who Alice ends up with.

But as much as you want to know all these things, you can’t help but be drawn into the plot and into the struggles that Reese is facing. I think that any age you can relate – you don’t have to be a woman in her 40s. You just need to be a person. You can be a person that is trying to figure out how to start over, how to exist, and how to be the person that you are versus the person that everyone wants you to be.

Reese Witherspoon shines on screen. She again is the relatable woman that you can’t help but see yourself in. We’re all strong, vulnerable, and sometimes a little indecisive. Witherspoon’s character reminds us that is okay, but that it’s life. But life can be one of two things – the things we settle for or the things we won’t allow ourselves to settle for.

Every scene that Lola Flannery and Eden Grace Redfield who play Reese’s character children – well they steal. The two are adorable. Lola Flannery is a star. That kid is going places.

I know, I know lets get to the men. First of all – 3 strangers moving into your guest house in LA? Umm… I don’t advise for it, but for the sake of Home Again it worked. Nat Wolff is amazing as usual, Jon Rudnitsky made me want to rethink every time I have ever told a dude is like a brother, and Pico Alexander made me want to embrace my inner cougar one day. What these three reminded me of is that there are all sorts of different people out there, all sorts of different men, but you need know that everyone can teach you something. You’ll fall in love with all three of them and never regret it.

Home Again reminds you that in like you will find people that will challenge you, affect you, and ultimately make you grow. Sit back, watch, and get ready to fall in love with this perfectly written and cast film.

The movie is in theaters September 8th.