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.
Pam says:
Writer/Director Nikole Beckwith flips gender stereotypes on their heads to give us a unique perspective as Matt (Ed Helms) struggles with one major shortfall in his life–he’s middle-aged and has no children with no prospects of doing so in the near future. Successful in his career, he is able to seek out other avenues of doing so. Interviewing prospective surrogates to carry his child, Anna (Patti Harrison) seems the perfect fit. Together, they navigate the choppy waters of surrogacy.
Beckwith’s story delves into the psychology of this situation with great care, particularly as Matt and Anna push the boundaries of their relationship. From a business agreement to a friendship, the two awkwardly embark upon virgin territory. It’s this realistic awkwardness that makes “Together Together” quite charming, but unfortunately, Beckwith omits much of the backstory that is needed to give it the emotional element it lacks. We never really understand Matt or Anna, both obviously having a life before their current situation.
Perfectly cast, Harrison and Helms’ relationship is an enigmatic one, but after pulling away the barriers, it becomes a sweet father-daughter type of interaction. The film’s topic, told from a male’s perspective, is quite ingenious, but the final product falls short. It’s as if the screenplay needed a few more iterations to more completely flesh out each of the characters so the viewer could be more intimately connected.
2 1/2 stars
Chuck says:
It’s not that I hated Nikole Beckwith’s “Together, Together,” but man did it irritate me. Like a slow drag of fingernails across a chalkboard that steadily increases in volume until your hair stands on end, the film is a long slog to nowhere with one of the most aggravating practitioners of passive aggressive behavior you’re likely to meet. And while the main character is unappealing, the script is a collection of flaws,m, containing scenes that go nowhere, jokes that don’t land and “poignant” moments that fail to move us.
Matt (Ed Helms) is a single guy in his 40’s who longs to be a father and decides to hire a surrogate to help him to that end. That poor soul would be Anna (Patti Harrison), a not particularly responsible young woman who just wants to make a quick buck. The relationship that develops between them does not quite go down the expected road and while Beckwith should be commended for steering away from the narrative norms, the script’s overall lack of energy dooms it in the end. There’s little chemistry between the leads, the jokes land with a thud and there’s a sense of laziness to certain aspects that it simply can’t shake. (A gay best friend co-worker at a coffee shop?!?! Please…)
Calling this as bland as white paint would be an insult to that criminally underrated color. The jokes concerning their differing views of childrearing are far too safe to be funny and Matt is such an overbearing jerk, you can tell why he’s still single. Helms is just doing a variation on his Andy Bernard character from “The Office,” but as a semi-stalker. Once Anna becomes pregnant, the extent to which Matt goes to ingratiate himself into her life and insist on changes in her behavior prompts the viewer to loss whatever modicum of sympathy you may have had for the guy. Though he insists he’s “pro-choice everything,” his actions belie this as he makes alter her diet, wear certain shoes and refrain from sex while she’s with child. Compound this with the fact that Matt can’t make a decision to save his life, is constantly asking Anna if she’s all right for no reason and is surprisingly naïve about the ways of the world, makes him a character we simply can’t relate to let alone hope for.
However, Harrison does grows on you, her character developing in an interesting and surprising manner. The pregnancy affects Anna in ways she does not anticipate causing her to grow emotionally, to think outside of herself and appreciate the responsibility she’s undertaken. A baby shower scene in which she observes Matt opening presents yet feels like an outsider is especially poignant, the actress conveying volumes with simple movements and a glance.
But that’s far too little to maintain any interest in this exercise in tedium. We limp to the ending, which proves to be a copout, as major issues are left unresolved, Beckwith employing a sense of ambiguity that’s meant to be profound. Don’t buy it – there’s nothing arty about the final scene. It’s nothing more than an example of what happens when a writer paints herself into a corner and can’t find a logical way out.
2 Stars
