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I was able to see this at Sundance Festival 2021's virtual screening.

"Together Together" 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 baby's father, but also as they become friends.

This is the kind of movie people often refer to as "cute." It'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 film's opening scene with both characters nervously interviewing each other was very funny. Anna's continues to revise her answers to Matt'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.

I found Ms. Harrison to be very believable in her role. Her performance turns the role of Anna into someone very real and vulnerable; there'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 doesn't really require him to step very far out of his comfort zone. Julio Torres is also very funny as Anna's zoned-out co-worker, as well as Tig Notaro's brief role as a therapist and Sufe Bradshaw as a hospital technician.

"Together Together" won'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, let's face it, isn't that typical of films like this?

A sidenote: Curiously, this feature was presented as one of Sundance 2021'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 didn't happen. Instead, the director stated during the Q&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. I'm assuming this was categorized as a "gay themed film" due to Ms. Harrison's participation, but she's playing a straight, cisgender woman in her role.

1) This is a comedy but not a belly laugh out loud film.

2) Per usual, Ed Helms does not disappoint.

3) Sometimes we get movies that are sweet and refreshing with endings that leave you wanting more. This is one of those. It's OK to let viewers decide for themselves, in their own hearts and minds, what the ending is.

4) Happy Birthday, Lamp! 🎈

Not a bad way to spend 90 minutes, but ultimately felt like a bit of fluff.

Highlights:

• The window into some of the things a woman goes through during pregnancy.

• The warm feeling I got from the platonic love between the main characters.

• Patti Harrison and Ed Helms, who are both charming in this.

Lowlights:

• The story is quite contrived, and borderline cheesy.

• Very limited character development.

• Most of the humor falls flat.

• The shots at Woody Allen felt cheap.

• The abruptness of the ending seemed like a cop-out, conveniently avoiding the inevitable conflicting emotions of this scenario.

An honest and thoroughly fresh portrayal of surrogacy, Together Together is an occasionally funny and progressive film. Ed Helms (as Matt) and Patti Harrison (as Anna) play the mid-40s and mid-20s loners respectively, their connection slowly evolving into something platonic. While the core plot revolves around the pregnancy aspect, the little details we get to know about the duo and their unlikely chemistry make the film engaging. Their relationship is never explored from a sexual angle, which most clichéd rom-coms would (I wouldn't classify this as one!) - Together Together remains a dramedy. Both the leads are wonderful, with the supporting cast ably pitching in. There's a sense of predictable aimlessness in the plot, especially in the final 20 minutes and an ending that feels a bit abrupt. It's still worth a viewing for its funny exchanges, however.

The story (written and directed by a woman) is not often (if ever) told in movies, a single man wants to start a family and hires a young woman to be a surrogate. The man is intelligent and successful and 45. The young woman had a speed bump as a teenager and now at 26 she works in a coffee shop in San Francisco. But she is lovely and intelligent and has aspirations to finish her degree.

So the movie is about their nine months, from his selecting her to giving birth. How each handles the novel "relationship" and how they gradually form a great friendship through the process. I can't say enough about Patti Harrison who plays the young woman. I had never heard of her before but she is just perfect in the role. Had it been any other actress the movie would have suffered. Ed Helms is established, he always does a good job.

Anyway my wife and I really enjoyed it, much of the script writing is novel and interesting. We watched it at home on DVD from our public library.