Your Place or Mine

Despite all of its references to social media and smart technology, Your Place or Mine espouses the value of old-fashioned physical interaction.

Both protagonists in this breezy and innocuous romantic comedy are generally happy and successful, but beneath the surface, harbor relationship regrets. So anyone can guess the outcome of this mildly charming yet woefully predictable saga of two longtime best friends who happen to be single and feel a void in their hearts.

The twist here is that while they’ve stayed in touch almost daily for 20 years, devoted single mother Debbie (Reese Witherspoon) lives in Los Angeles while affluent marketing executive Peter (Ashton Kutcher) is in New York.

Debbie is comfortable in her routine, which includes cozying up with a good book and overprotecting her nerdy preteen son, Jack (Wesley Kimmel), from food allergies and sports injuries.

When an academic opportunity lures Debbie to New York for a few days, Peter offers up his ritzy pad as free lodging. And he’ll fly to California to stay at her house and babysit the kiddo.

This convenient switcheroo finds Peter starting some mischief while luring Jack out of his shell and confiding in Debbie’s sardonic confidant (Tig Notaro) and eccentric gardener (Steve Zahn).

Meanwhile, Debbie begins to explore a more adventurous side with Peter’s free-spirited ex (Zoe Chao) and a literary publisher (Jesse Williams). She also discovers some secrets about Peter, and vice versa, that make her question their friendship.

Witherspoon and Kutcher — the latter in his first starring role in almost a decade — are well within their romcom comfort zone, able to sell an awkward opening expositional montage as cute and charming. The biggest laughs tend to come from the quirky, scene-stealing periphery characters.

Not as shallow or superficial as it first appears, the directorial debut of screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna (The Devil Wears Prada) never strays too far from formula. It bogs down in contrivances and narrative detours, and features an obligatory soundtrack of vintage pop hits, in this case saluting 1980s rockers The Cars.

Plus, the central device of keeping Debbie and Peter apart enables the annoying narrative crutch of oversharing background details via phone conversations.

The appealing cast can only do so much to offset the assembly-line plotting in Your Place or Mine, playing variations of familiar characters regardless of whose place they ultimately choose.

Rated PG-13, 109 minutes.