Delayed Reaction: Together Together

Premise: A Single man becomes friends with the surrogate carrying his baby.

 

Most people will hear this premise and think this is a RomCom about a man falling in love with his surrogate. The movie math works, and decades of movies have taught me that films shot like this one would end that way. That's not what this movie is, and god bless it for that. It's really just an unlikely friendship movie. Ed Helms plays Matt, a 40-something single man who is tired of waiting to find the right woman to start a family with. He recognizes that he wants to be a father and isn't getting any younger. So he hires Anna (Patti Harrison) as a surrogate. She's a woman in her 20s who doesn't seem to have a lot going on at first. Early on, it's a little rough. Matt is overbearing and struggles with boundaries. Anna is so bottled up that it's hard to read how seriously she's taking this. Over time though, they just...become friends. They each go to support classes for surrogacy and get conflicting advice about boundaries, so they forge their own path. It's a very sweet movie. It never tries to complicate their feelings beyond friendship. It helps that they recognize the sizeable age gap. It hits a lot of familiar pregnancy story beats but filters them through a different lens. And I love where the movie ends.

 

A lot of the credit has to go to Ed Helms and Patti Harrison. They are excellent together. Helms is great at playing characters who are a little oblivious, but this dials it back to a human scale. He still can't help himself, but he recognizes it and owns his mistakes. Helms really should be more of a Sundance fixture. This is my first introduction to Patti Harrison, and I'm already a big fan. Apparently, she's a stand-up, and I'm really curious to check that out now.

 

I'm not sure what else to say. This is a very pleasant movie. It's a Sundancing comedy, so don't expect a laugh a minute. Otherwise, enjoy.

 

Side Thought: I don't know if I should just fully ignore the fact that Patti Harrison is a trans actress playing a pregnant woman or not. On the one hand, I think it's cool that they aren't making a big deal about it in the buildup to the movie that I've heard. I didn't realize she was trans until afterwards, so why should it matter. On the other hand, I also think it's cool that a decently sized production made that decision and I've heard no blowback on it. Either way, it doesn't change my thoughts on the movie. It just adds an interesting little meta narrative to it.

 

Verdict: Strongly Recommend