TOGETHER TOGETHER -- A Mildly Funny Film About Parenthood

Review by Dan Skip Allen

Films about getting pregnant are an interesting genre. There aren't a lot of them but they seem to have a comedic feel to them more often than not. For some reason, filmmakers think giving birth is a funny experience. Together Together doesn't challenge this notion at all.

Ed Helms plays a middle-aged man who wants to have a child. He enlists the help of Patti Harrison's character to be the surrogate mother. This business agreement is not easy for them. It stretches the boundaries of connection and love. Can a man have this arrangement with a woman without all the preconceived notions of what a relationship should be between a man and a woman?

Despite the comedic moments between these two people, the film has a lot of touching moments as well. The differences between them cause a little drama but make sense because this is a difficult situation for everyone involved. He wants to share everything with everybody and she wants to remain neutral and not know anything about the child so she doesn't get attached to it.

Nikole Beckwith wrote and directed this film. It seems like the topic is personal to her. She asks all the questions within the film. The answers aren't always straightforward or easy to take. She doesn't make this complicated subject matter easy to interpret. It's very difficult to translate on-screen. That feels more like real life to me.

Helms and Harrison are serviceable in their roles. They have a nice banter between them in between tense moments about the pregnancy and boundaries. They are a nice pair to tell this little story with. Bigger actors may have gotten the message lost in the fact that they are stars. The focus should be on the child not who plays the parents of said child. 

Beckwith makes this story awkward at times and sweet at times. Bringing up Woody Allen was almost cringe-worthy, but it got the point across about the age difference between the main characters. Age is just a number, but it can be perceived badly when an older man is with a younger woman. Even though these two don't look much different in an age in this film.

Together Together does a nice job of asking and answering the questions about giving birth and parenthood. The dialogue is effective in bringing these topics to life once again. The acting is solid, but not over the top. The message in the film doesn't hit you over the head either, but it's not subtle either. Giving birth isn't easy and parenting isn't going to be easy. That's a pretty simple concept. This film does what it's intending to do which is fine.

Together Together hits theaters on April 23 and VOD on May 11.

Rating: 3/5