Together Together (2021)

Every performance in TOGETHER TOGETHER is outstanding, and amidst such an excellent cast, Patti Harrison's performance still manages to outshine the others. The film is filled with many delightful scenes and moments. It has enough scenes that go nowhere or are presented too unconventionally to really work well that the film does not consistently engage. This thoughtful film is never dull, but it does have brief moments of disinterest. At least on the big screen, the make up on the actors is distractingly obvious.

Fmovies: Easily one of the worst movies I've ever seen; embarrassing on every conceivable level and an awkward experience to watch... I've liked Ed Helms in other movies such as The Hangover but his character Matt in this is one of the most pathetic shells I've ever seen passed of as a protagonist. They overplay the "I'm an effeminate male" thing so constantly that it just gets irritating. As a viewer it's almost impossible to care about anything that's going on. Neither Matt or Anna are particularly likable and the writers don't even attempt to establish any sort of effective character transformations. They're banking on the fact the surrogate mother thing will be interesting enough on its own but it isn't, it's already been used more entertainingly in about 100 Lifetime movies since the 90's! Sure their relationship is cute but it's not cute, quirky, or heartwarming enough for the viewer to get that invested in it. Very lazily done. The movie's attempts at humor are literally cringe worthy. Every time the "comic relief" barista character opened his mouth I could hear a pin drop in the theater. All the scenes with that character were just off putting and awkward.

1) This is a comedy but not a belly laugh out loud film.

2) Per usual, Ed Helms does not disappoint.

3) Sometimes we get movies that are sweet and refreshing with endings that leave you wanting more. This is one of those. It's OK to let viewers decide for themselves, in their own hearts and minds, what the ending is.

4) Happy Birthday, Lamp! 🎈

Together Together fmovies. I was able to see this at Sundance Festival 2021's virtual screening.

"Together Together" is about how Matt, a single, middle-aged tech worker in Northern California hires Anna, who is in her twenties, as a surrogate mother to his child. As their relationship progresses and Anna gets closer to delivering their baby, they grow more emotionally dependent on each other. The film examines the boundaries between their relationship, not only as a surrogate mother to the baby's father, but also as they become friends.

This is the kind of movie people often refer to as "cute." It's certainly not a groundbreaking effort that will change your life, but it will provoke some laughs and maybe even cause you to get teary-eyed in a couple of scenes. I thought the film's opening scene with both characters nervously interviewing each other was very funny. Anna's continues to revise her answers to Matt's questions as he scribbles them into a notebook, and he does his best to accommodate her by crossing out many of her responses as she asks him to.

I found Ms. Harrison to be very believable in her role. Her performance turns the role of Anna into someone very real and vulnerable; there's an innocence about her, but also a loneliness, something we learn she and Matt have in common as the film progresses. Ed Helms is also effective in his role, but he plays the role very much like, well, Ed Helms. Except for a scene at the end of the film, the part doesn't really require him to step very far out of his comfort zone. Julio Torres is also very funny as Anna's zoned-out co-worker, as well as Tig Notaro's brief role as a therapist and Sufe Bradshaw as a hospital technician.

"Together Together" won't win any big awards, but I recommend it for what it is: a gentle comedy about the importance of non-romantic relationships, a theme that should be explored more often. The plot is often predictable, but, let's face it, isn't that typical of films like this?

A sidenote: Curiously, this feature was presented as one of Sundance 2021's gay-themed films. The character of Matt is a single, middle-aged man living in San Francisco. During his two or three discussions with Anna when she asks him about his his past relationships, he seems to be deliberately explaining things in a vague way, intentionally leaving out genders. His character clearly struck me as a closeted gay man and I expected an eventual reveal as the film continued. It didn't happen. Instead, the director stated during the Q&A that she had written the part of Matt to be heterosexual. I was left feeling confused why he was written to be so deliberately coy and avoidant when mentioning genders in his past relationships if he was straight. I'm assuming this was categorized as a "gay themed film" due to Ms. Harrison's participation, but she's playing a straight, cisgender woman in her role.

The movie trailer was a bit promising ,, and I love that usual nervous comedy of Ed Helms .. but god the movie was just slow ..

The storyline was a bit boring ,, not much to look for , I mean even lacked a good plot ,, It was just flat all the way ,, the script seemed like just a bunch of cut out scenes that are supposed to look like a grey comedy but it didn't.

The casting was okay, as I said. I love Ed Helms, Patti Harrison was okay ,, but again didn't feel like they were all enthusiastic about the whole project. Nikole Beckwith tried to do this alone and unlike "Matt" she couldn't .

I think it's a family movie more than it is a comedy ,, much more, It is sweet but again slow .. so as for recommendation , watch it if you literally have nothing else to watch.

In spite of attempting to poorly imitate the lettering and typeface of Woody Allen cinematography, found the negative references to Woody Allen and his Oscar winning productions - Annie Hall and Manhattan to be both unnecessary and in poor taste. Unlike the creators of Together, Together , Woody Allen clearly knows how to make a movie.

The acting in this movie and both leads were very good. Unfortunately the writing and story line fell flat, and the expectation that today's audience would bat an eye at a 25 year old woman having a child with a 45 year old man seems out of touch with reality and today's world. With different filmmakers this could have been an interesting production.

The lack of an ending was also a great disappointment.