Together Together

Comedies that focus on showing non-romantic relationship dynamics can be rather endearing in their own right. Looking at how friendships can form between those of the same age group and gender can bring out some neat bonding experiences. One of my favorite films, I Love You Man, shows the bond with an engaged man whose lack of male friends leads him to befriending a more social brave dude, which leads to appealing interactions and cast chemistry. This leads us to a new entry within this type of group, Together Together, which was directed and written by Nikole Beckwith. I didn't hear too much about this comedy but I noticed it good things mentioned it among some film festivals. I waited until it was available at a normal rent price. After watching it as an online rental, I watch surprised by how heartfelt and genuine it was to watch.

What's it about? The story follows a lonely 40-something who enters a surrogacy agreement with a mid-20s loner, which leads to them exploring a platonic dynamic. It's very refreshing to explore a friendship bond between these two characters as there's gap of experience between them. It explores the type of life ruts that would be expected between individuals of those age group but shown and talked about naturally between these strangers getting to know one another during surrogacy. The narrative itself jumps through time using trimesters of the pregnancy, which tests how comfortable they are with boundaries of their roles. It's worth watching the development as it avoids melodrama and heads straight into honest discussions that lead to supportive heartwarming words of encouragement.

If there was anything holding this back from greatness, it would be the writing of its humor. The jokes here are hit or miss in the execution, notably with a supportive character that leans into that modern day dating humor that doesn't land as well as it thinks it does. It would have been nice to have had at least one more scene with the surrogate mother being vulnerable too as it could have maybe balanced out the neurotic nervousness of the father. 

 

How are the actors? In regards to story importance, the actors to focus on are Ed Helms and Patti Harrison. Despite his history of being not used properly by past directors, Ed gives a surprisingly great performance where the direction he's given anchors him into tolerable amounts of anxiety from him with softer aspects. Patti provides a well balanced portrayal that blends nervous vulnerability with a somewhat level-headed personality, which is impressive as she's fairly recent big screen acting. The chemistry between Ed and Patti is very believable and watchable to the point where it managed to shed some of my tears near the end, which is another showing of great direction. Honorable mention Tig Notaro for being a nice standout among the supporting actors. 

 

Overall Consensus: Together Together is a heartfelt lighthearted comedy that blends great cast chemistry, good directing, and an interesting yet simple premise into a delightful viewing package, despite hit or miss humor. ⭑⭑⭑⭑1/4 Runtime: 1 hour 31 minutes R

 

Reasons to watch it: You are a fan of the aforementioned actors and/or filmmaker Nikole Beckwith. You are interested in slice of life premises involving surrogacy. You want to see something that's lighthearted and sweet. 

 

Reasons to avoid it: You aren't a fan of the aforementioned actors and/or filmmaker Nikole Beckwith. You aren't interested in slice of life premises involving surrogacy. You don't want to see something that's lighthearted and sweet.