On its surface, “Together Together” is a fairly straightforward, albeit very sweetly rendered, comedy. As I was watching this cinematic game-changer, I admired the way its central characters (played by Ed Helms and Patti Harrison) kept growing on me, but little did I know that one of them was a transgender comedian.
No, Ed Helms has not decided to transition. Rather, it’s the casting of Harrison (Shrill) that may very well set the tone for Transgender talent to get leading cisgender roles in future movies. Helms and Harrison are very much the leads here. He’s Matt, a lonely app designer, she’s Anna, the 26-year old expectant surrogate mother of his child. The deal struck between them is simple: Anna gets the payday she needs to finish college, and Matt, in his 40s and single, finally becomes a father.
Until now, transgender talent not only hasn’t gotten leading roles in movies, but nary could they portray a cisgender character. That is all going to change now. Sure, trans talent was always allowed to nab a role as a cisgender person, but no producer dared to commit to that kind of casting. Harrison has paved a path, she’s a total revelation, playing her character with the kind of cynicism, sarcasm, and awkwardness that perfectly compliments Helms’ naïveté. Not just that, but she plays someone who gets pregnant and has a baby. And we believe it every step of the way.
The term rom-com cannot be used when narrowing down this film, and although it does hint like one at times, its writer-director Nikole Beckwith doesn’t want to trap herself within the limitations of that genre. Matt and Anna, although they form a touching bond, are simply friends. Harrison and Helms’ chemistry hints at strong feelings being hidden, but that’s about as far as it goes. There’s no sex, no kissing – just a conversation about how Woody Allen’s “Manhattan,” which had a 20+ year difference between its love pairing, was just plain wrong.
Yes, Matt and Anna are an unusual duo, moving in together “for the baby,” but they really just want to just hang out, watch Friends, and sort of flirt? There is no clear-cut resolution in “Together Together;” the film even ends on a final frame so abrupt that it caught me off-guard in its refusal to tie things up in a knot for the audience. And yet, the film wouldn’t work without Harrison’s restrained, compassionate performance. She keeps us guessing, not in any sort of self-effacing manner, but with subtle pleasantries and the deepest of judgy stares. It may very well be the breakout performance of Sundance 2021.
SCORE: B