The bitLanders Film Series to Support Women Empowerment: HOME AGAIN - Photo credit: bestlifeministries.com, Edition by Amber255 via Bitlanders.com
Bitlanders again presented four new films to write a review to support women empowerment. All four movies seem to be quite interesting, but I start from the comedy HOME AGAIN as I have watched it not so long ago and do not need to rewatch in order to remember details.
Hallie Meyers-Shyer grew up in comedies. Perhaps this is not entirely true, but in her childhood, this young filmmaker appeared in several films of this genre. Among them is the classic Father of the Bride or the What Women Want comedy, a film that appeared at the time when Mel Gibson was still a sexy man and respected in cinema society. The reason why Hallie Meyers-Shyer appeared in all those films is simple.
It's worth looking at her birth certificate, to see that her parents are Nancy Meyers and Charles Shyer, Hollywood's renowned personalities, whose creative dossier has already mentioned films and a few more works from which you've really seen one or perhaps even few.
"Home Again" feels like comfort food, specifically low fat vanilla bean ice cream from Whole Foods. Yes, the film is that white, frothy and delightful. -
Christopher James, AwardsCircuit.comCredit: rottentomatoes.com
So, the daughter of well-known films' creators entered the world of cinema and present us her first work - the romantic comedy HOME AGAIN. So let's talk about the success of the first Hallie Meyer-Shyer's work and the number of flaws.
It's a romantic, light comedy about love, friendship, and family, but most importantly, about one big lesson in life - even trying to start everything from the new requires experience.
The Short Story Of The Movie
The daughter of the famous director Alice Kinney (Reese Witherspoon) lived all her life surrounded by Bohemians and creative personalities, but by approaching forty she got tired of the eternal parties and the unpredictability of tomorrow and, after breaking up with her producer husband, moved with her two daughters from New York to Los Angeles to the old house her father.
Six months after breaking up with her husband, Alice celebrates her 40th birthday and goes off to a crazy party. After a stormy birthday celebration, Alice wakes up in the arms of a young Harry who has come to conquer Hollywood.
Film HOME AGAIN Poster - Photo credit: twitter.com
She cannot resist the charm of a new acquaintance and, convinced by her mom, the woman temporarily allows Harry and two of his companions to stay in the guest house for a time as the boys are looking for work.
The situation is moving in an unexpected way. From this moment on, Alice's life begins to play with new colors. Tired of the unsettled life but still thirsty for love, Alice gets a second chance to be happy. And soon another unexpected event happens - her ex-husband Austin (Michael Sheen) decides to return to try to start their family life from scratch.
It turns out that the woman and four men in one house can be too much.
HOME AGAIN - Photo credit: blog.fantasylifeapp.com
The Content Of The Movie
HOME AGAIN falls into the category of light films. Of course, due to the lack of precision in this category, each of us can imagine what is about the light film, but common denominators will be the same. These are movies that do not bind or oblige you, do not disturb forcing you to think about existential issues. Their storyline is consistent, with no complex or unexpected twists on the storyline. They are mostly comical or tied to romance. Such films look like a fresh summer breeze. As a book on the beach, only in cinematographic form.
Hallie Meyers-Shyer's directorial and scenario debut falls into the category of light films. However, even such unwritten and at first glance ordinary films can surprise you. The plot may be interesting and engaging. The jokes heard in the movie may make you laugh loudly in the cinema hall. Although it is not created to apply to high matter, light movies can surprise or delight in something. However, HOME AGAIN is neither surprising nor too amazing.
Reese Witherspoon, Michael Sheen, and Eden Grace Redfield in the film HOME AGAIN - Photo credit: imdb.com
The film is not too funny to remember it for great humor, so it is hard to name it a good comedy. However, visible heroes stories also do not involve too much and do not rise the feeling of enthusiasm and care what will happen to the characters in the film. The presentation of these stories not only is not very involving you but also not very serious, so HOME AGAIN does not fit into the drama category too.
It is neither very poor nor very good. This is the average one. Shooting the debut film, Hallie Myers-Scheyer seems to have a very definite goal. She was not going to make the viewers laugh (so this comedy should not be blamed for the lack of successful jokes in it) or surprise the viewers with interesting characters (all the characters of the film are flat, everyone has a problem with motivation, but anyone is too sensitive). Instead, Hallie wanted to make sure that a certain segment of the audience, women who recently celebrated their 40th birthday, feel good. To keep them at least for an hour and forty minutes not to suffer because of the uncertainty of life or loneliness.
While reading movie HOME AGAIN review, check QUERLO CHAT: "What kind of movies do you like?"
The problem is that the director decided to use the magic of Hollywood. In other words, Alice and her environment are all more or less successful, not because they work on themselves, they are able to listen to others or demonstrate an unprecedented subtlety of the soul. They have Hollywood on the sidelines - and it emanates fluids, thanks to which, even after a series of dubious decisions and idiotic actions, success comes.
From the beginning to the end, the plot reveals something naive and incredible, which shows the inexperience of director Hallie Meyers-Shyer. So this largely explains the shyness with which such promising resources have been used. The revealed drama brings a rather serious story to a series of girls fantasies about how, at a difficult moment, a young princess will be saved by three Knights at once.
The plot is developed easily and fairly quickly. It will not be difficult for the viewer to understand what is happening and why. But the story itself is not very convincing, and the essential breakthroughs seem to have come from nowhere. So all you can do is to shrug your shoulders and continue to swim alongside the heroes of the movie.
Romantic comedy HOME AGAIN - Photo credit: mrmoviefilmblog.com
The conversations that were started up among the people on the screen did not impress too much also. Serious and fundamental talks did not come naturally and dramatically. Almost all the dialogs seemed to be unfinished, forced and written only to write. I really got a feeling that history and dialogues were written only by necessity, no matter how, just important that the work was done. It was not important at all whether it was made qualitatively.
If it seems that nothing we remember after this movie, you are wrong. The actors' performance is memorable, which we will discuss too.
The film HOME AGAIN is a peaceful therapy for women that tells about the heroine, which managed not only to overcome despair but also to move away from it to a safe distance. The film has a clear intention to convey an inspirational message to the audience, seems a cautious attempt to stay in the genre of melodrama and to please the viewer with a beautiful fairy tale. Well, it works, but it's not what you expect buying a movie ticket with Reese Witherspoon.
Of course, HOME BACK is not a pure tasteless film, but a completely classic melodrama which does not touch the hearts, but which causes a smile. Such a sweet pill from reality, which offers to warm the spectator's hopes for the happiness' gift.
The film HOME AGAIN - Photo credit: mrmoviefilmblog.com
In general, the movie relaxes and does not load your heart with heaviness. Actually, I smiled many times while watching. True, it is exclusively for girls. And for the romantic nature, so many women will be happy watching it.
The Technical Side Of The Movie
The atmosphere of the film, personally for me, was well done! Some humor that makes us smile (not to laugh), great scenes of summer days, a very nice house of Alice, and the warm atmosphere in it. Such nuances play a big role for me: when I am watching a film, I enjoy not only the game of the actors but also the environment.
It is also memorizing the long scenes where music is played, and actors speak with each other. It's trying to combine images and music without telling stories. Only that test is greatly extended. It seems that the director has been trying to force even the slowest thinking public to understand what's going on.
Do not be so bad thinking about your audience. Do not torture us with such long scenes. Because neither the music is particularly beautiful, nor the movie's visual and stylistic presentation is very exclusive that it would force us to enjoy all long scenes.
Scene of HOME AGAIN - Photo credit: filmofilia.com
There is not enough intellectual, emotional filling, and the film seems nothing more than a formal follow-up scenario (written by director Hallie Meyers Shyer). This evenness is emphasized visually - the perfectly constructed frames are filled with light, making the actors beautiful, the drama looks like pretended, and the love looks nicer. In general, artificiality in everything.
The Collective Work Of The Actors
Reese Witherspoon is undeniably beautiful, but none can say that she has been able to reveal this role and show something more than a pattern. And not because he can't. Recall, at least, Wild, where her image is imprinted in memory, and for a long time it lays as a synonym of women's strength and overcoming herself. In HOME AGAIN, the role was so tight that it's hard to squeeze something more than sobbing to the mirror and a crown smile.
The only thing that Alice does not take away is the actor's beauty. Reese Witherspoon deliberately laughs, but even more selflessly gives away herself to the romantic - she is crying, laughing, and gets charmingly angry at her young lover.
Reese Witherspoon - Photo credit: twitter.com
Michael Sheen, probably, answers the requests of those spectators to whom 27-year-old boys seem too young. Michael Sheen wanders somewhere in the second-rate roles, playing an irresponsible husband and father, in no way expressing himself. Like the rest of the fairly talented cast.
The least reproaches from me go to Jon Rudnitsky. His voice is annoying, but his performance was the most organic of all his colleagues, and his shinning there was not fully revealed by a poor story and artificial dialogues.
Pico Alexander and Nat Wolff demonstrate the embodiment of girls fantasies - handsome guys with a great sense of humor and spreading their love. Nat Wolff received a relatively short time on the screen, but it looked, to put it mildly, not so great.
While reading movie HOME AGAIN review, check QUERLO CHAT: "Do you support women empowerment?"
The Main Protagonist Role
The main protagonist role was entrusted to the Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon, but let's talk not about her performance, but about the personage she embodied - Alice.
The romance of an older woman and the younger man is not new in the cinema. Also, the tried and tested formulas that romantic comedy must have a charming main character of a man was not abandoned in this movie - the young actor Pico Alexander fills these shoes.
Frequently I see a lot of men that I have worked with over the years coming up and they are with younger and younger women. I think that’s interesting to talk about it. It definitely happens and I have dated younger men in my life. It depends on what the age gap is and these men are at a point where they are trying to figure out their careers, their lives, but I think there is a lot to be learned from relationships and how you connect and there is something really beautiful about creating a film where they don’t see the age of this woman, they just see the appeal of this woman. - Reese Witherspoon
Credit: emanuellevy.com
Alice on her birthday party invites three young guys to the house, which in the future will be her listeners, aides, and of course, love is involved there also. Alice is a woman who has crossed the threshold of 40, although you will not say it about her. She is the other of two children. Alice lives separately with her husband. Alice likes to keep her home and life in order. Such a clear, competent, disciplined, wise, but not primitive woman. And her house says a lot about her.
Romantic comedy HOME AGAIN - Photo credit: imdb.com
However, the film HOME AGAIN is distinguished from the bunch of romantic comedies by its dreamy, lighted by the candles light story about the goodness of a middle-aged mother in accepting three strangers, unemployed people at home. Since the film tells about a special time after the separation with a spouse, when insecurity interconnects with the guilt, this film is certainly not a routine romantic comedy.
I mentioned that this movie is for the feminine audience, although for men, it will also be useful to watch. Perhaps they will understand that the main thing for women is attention. And if it is not, then it's the end of relations, the interest of the woman to you will disappear.
The message of the film is somehow a bit feministic- a lonely 40-year-old woman may well be happy and independent. A woman does not have to be married to feel happy.
Interview with he stars and director of HOME AGAIN - Good Morning America via Youtube.comOn The Final Note
HOME AGAIN is not an exclusive or intriguing film. Its liveliness and simplicity will be understood that you will forget this movie very quickly. It's really not a very poor movie, but the big question is whether it's worth spending money for the ticket. This work is suitable for a rainy weekend evening when there is nothing to watch because in one channel shows one nonsense, and in the next - another. Then this kind of movie is the best choice.
Despite the pink background and the charming masculine character, the romantic adventures in the film HOME AGAIN are not the essence of the story. The movie tells you not about a woman who needs love, but about a woman who finds her best version.
Reese Witherspoon, Michael Sheen, Nat Wolff, Pico Alexander, and Jon Rudnitsky in HOME AGAIN - Photo credit: imdb.com
This is not the case when you can watch and rewatch again and again. But for one preview it is obviously fitting.
HOME AGAIN is far from a masterpiece. The story of a woman who allowed herself to throw away the burden of the past and try to get things started again might well receive a permanent residence permit on female channels. The film has everything in order to return a good mood and slightly raise confidence in own abilities.
My rating: 6.0/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 34% ( of 100)
Critics average: 5.8/10
IMDb: 7.3/10
HAVE FUN WATCHING!
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You can check my other blogs about Halloween:
1. The bitLanders Film Series to Support Women Empowerment - DARK RIVER
2. Movie BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE Review: It Moves Back To The 90s
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