Ed Helms is seamless once again, this time as a single man who wants nothing more than to be a dad, leading him to a surrogate.
Ed Helms has turned into the go to guy if you need an awkward middle-aged man who isn’t comfortable doing anything and always putting his foot in it, why change something that isn’t broke though? Here he is, playing a single 40-year-old Matt, a successful app developer who wants to be a dad more than anything, obviously missing the one thing that can provide him with one, a female (there is always a curveball). His solution, enter a surrogacy program where he can find a suitable woman for his dream, eventually choosing Anna (Patti Harrison). The two start to bond, becoming close friends but, not without a few hitches on the journey. Together Together deals with the stigma around single men wanting to be fathers – why the subject is still taboo I will never no. It normalizes the situation, even making fun of it at times.
This comedy film is directed by Nikole Beckwith (known for her work on Stockholm, Pennsylvania) and it couldn’t be more different than her previous film – no one gets kidnapped in this one. Premiering at Sundance earlier this year, it is an easy feel-good film with a pleasant runtime – bring us more 90-minute films – making it perfect for the small screen. Cute and independent with a low budget, Together Together revolves around the characters relationship, letting it flower into something quite sweet, aided by some quirky dialogue and an amusing supporting cast (a certain ultrasound expert and a gay co-worker are hard to look past). Frank Barrera’s cinematography also helps with the duo’s relationship by highlighting a closeness, whether that through symmetry or with close ups. They’re just in their own little world together, together. See what I did there?
The story begins with Matt (Helms) as he is interviewing potential surrogate Anna (Harrison) a 20 something woman who works in a coffee shop but has dreams of her own. Her quirky nature and the bluntness in her answers obviously impresses Matt, leading to the two of them signing on the dotted line. After a rocky start to their relationship, with Matt thinking he knows everything and being too controlling (let the girl eat what she wants man), the couple begin to spend a lot of time with each other; attending counselling sessions together, led by the very dry Madeline (Tig Notaro), going to doctor’s appointments with another straight-talking member of the medical profession, Jean (Sufe Bradshaw), and also dealing with Anna’s gay best friend and colleague Jules (Julio Torres) who is desperate for Anna to not give birth to a straight privileged white baby – the chances of which are high.
As Matt and Anna start to become closer with one another; testing their boundaries to the limits, with Anna sharing details about her past life and why she moved so far away from her family (this might not be Anna’s first pregnancy). Matt also delves into his own past; the fact he was in a passionless marriage, resulting in his present-day loneliness and the reasoning for wanting to be a dad so much. As baby showers go awry and Anna explaining to Matt that she wants to go to University in Vermont – which is a hell of a journey from California – it leads to some friction between the two, resulting in them becoming slightly distant. So, with the birth fast approaching, will the two reconcile in time for a happy arrival? Will they confess their platonic love for each other? Only time will tell for these two loners who have found each other at the perfect moment in their lives. It sounds sweet, right?
This journey of a surrogate mother, that we have seen done so well in films like Juno, is a quirky little film with good intentions. It deals with companionship in a huge world where it is dangerously easy to feel alone. Together Together takes you on a journey of parenthood through the eyes of a confident young woman and a man who thinks he has parenthood sewn up; he couldn’t be more wrong. They test the boundaries of a civil relationship, even making Woody Allen jokes about their age gap and how weird it would be to be involved romantically. This is a film that went way under the radar this year – it’s limited release massively contributing to that. It is a lovely little film though, with some genuine laughs and some heartfelt messages, you wouldn’t go far wrong in lending this film 90 minutes of your time.
Available to watch on certain VOD platforms, try Amazon Prime or Google play. It’s limited release outside of the US makes availability a bit tricky.
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