Together Together (2021)

Together Together: Directed by Nikole Beckwith. With Patti Harrison, Ed Helms, Rosalind Chao, Timm Sharp. When a young loner becomes the gestational surrogate for a single man in his 40s, the two strangers come to realize this unexpected relationship will challenge their perceptions of connection, boundaries and the particulars of love.

“I was able to see this at Sundance Festival 2021u0026#39;s virtual screening.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;Together Togetheru0026quot; 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 babyu0026#39;s father, but also as they become friends.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis is the kind of movie people often refer to as u0026quot;cute.u0026quot; Itu0026#39;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 filmu0026#39;s opening scene with both characters nervously interviewing each other was very funny. Annau0026#39;s continues to revise her answers to Mattu0026#39;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.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI found Ms. Harrison to be very believable in her role. Her performance turns the role of Anna into someone very real and vulnerable; thereu0026#39;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 doesnu0026#39;t really require him to step very far out of his comfort zone. Julio Torres is also very funny as Annau0026#39;s zoned-out co-worker, as well as Tig Notarou0026#39;s brief role as a therapist and Sufe Bradshaw as a hospital technician.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;Together Togetheru0026quot; wonu0026#39;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, letu0026#39;s face it, isnu0026#39;t that typical of films like this?u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eA sidenote: Curiously, this feature was presented as one of Sundance 2021u0026#39;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 didnu0026#39;t happen. Instead, the director stated during the Qu0026amp;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. Iu0026#39;m assuming this was categorized as a u0026quot;gay themed filmu0026quot; due to Ms. Harrisonu0026#39;s participation, but sheu0026#39;s playing a straight, cisgender woman in her role.”