Together Together - SPOILER-FREE Review | Sundance 2021
/
Directed by: Nikole Beckwith
Written by: Nikole Beckwith
Starring: Ed Helms, Patti Harrison, Tig Notaro, Julio Torres, Anna Konkle
Runtime: 90 min
Synopsis: When 26-year-old Anna (Patti Harrison) becomes a gestational surrogate to a single, middle-aged app designer named Matt (Ed Helms), she expects only a transactional bit of good karma and the payday that will allow her to finish her college degree. But as Matt’s unbridled enthusiasm for impending parenthood leads him to persistently insert himself into her life and invite her into his, the initially annoyed Anna finds herself reluctantly charmed. The pair of self-described loners gradually open up to each other, give in to the intimacy of their admittedly finite shared experience, and forge an unlikely friendship.
I really like being surprised by actors who usually do comedy taking a serious, dramatic role or simply showing something different from the type of performances we're used to seeing. I love Ed Helms - who doesn't? - but the whole "having a baby" storyline has been tackled so many times that I was a bit scared this would turn out to be a disappointment. Fortunately, Together Together is not only a really creative title that viewers will understand midway through the film but a lovely, fun, charming platonic love story that's also educative about surrogacy.
First of all, Ed Helms proves that he can indeed do anything he puts his mind to. Matt is a genuinely compelling character, as is Anna, and both share exceptional development through Nikole Beckwith's witty screenplay. Packed with an enjoyable lightness and smart humor, Helms and Patti Harrison offer two wonderful displays, but I must praise Beckwith's script again. Every dialogue feels so authentic, honest, and real. I'm not the biggest fan of rom-coms or the formula "two strangers fall in love in the most unexpected way", but Together Together just makes me feel so good about myself.
That's the biggest compliment I can offer this movie: it makes me happy. Despite it still being generic and unsurprising, I was never bored, I didn't roll my eyes I single time, and I laughed out loud quite often. It's one of those films people can go to the theater and leave in a better state of mind than what they entered with. In addition to this, I watched the emotionally overwhelming Mass after lunch, so I needed these consecutive viewings of Marvelous and the Black Hole and Together Together to brighten my day. So, thank you to everyone involved in the latter.
Final Thoughts
Together Together possesses such a humorously clever screenplay that its joyful, fun aura passes to its own title, which carries more meaning than what it looks like. Ed Helms and Patti Harrison boast sincere chemistry, delivering two charming portrayals of characters who are emotionally worthy of investing in. Nevertheless, Nicole Beckwith deserves all the compliments for her lovely take on such a formulaic topic while educating viewers on surrogacy at the same time. From the genuine, realistic dialogues to the surprisingly efficient humor (I wasn't expecting to laugh as much as I did), I couldn't be happier. I know the ending is purposefully abrupt, but I'm not sure it fully works for me.
