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billbutteriv
Reviews
Together Together (2021)
Delightful movie; disagree with other reviews about the ending
Well-written, well-cast, very sweet. Ed Helms is at his best as a charming (if overbearing) father-to-be, Patti Harrison is somehow both disarmingly awkward and effortlessly cool, and I have to give a special nod to Julio Torres, who is just plain weird and hilarious.
I loved that this movie explored some pretty unique themes for a movie about pregnancy--surrogacy, single fatherhood, and the friendship between the surrogate and the single father. Very fresh take. My only wish is that the film had gone deeper into the two main characters' backgrounds--specifically, Matt's (Ed Helms) unusual decision as a single straight man to become a father on his own, and Anna's (Patti Harrison) relationship with her family and her past.
I must add that, like many others, I didn't particularly like the ending (because it was sad), but I disagree that it left anything open-ended. Anyone who thinks it wasn't a true ending wasn't paying attention. The entire movie is about its own inevitable ending! **Spoiler alert** All of the characters' tortured thoughts and discussions about their friendship and how it must end when the baby is born come to fruition in the final scene. After Anna has given birth, Matt holds her hand and gives her one final gesture of appreciation for carrying his child, and then he turns his attention to the baby. We hear him becoming absorbed with the new life that he is now responsible for and that Anna no longer has anything to do with. Anna is left mourning the loss of the friendship, knowing that Matt has moved on and she must too. The end.
Madame (2017)
Worth it for Rossy di Palma; also--so about that joke...
Rossy di Palma gives a very charming performance in this film, and it's worth watching for that alone. I had actually never seen her in anything before, but as one character says of her, "What can I say? She beguiles me."
Other than that, it's a somewhat predictable but pleasantly filmed and written tale of a maid who has a tryst with a wealthy friend of her employer and the employer's attempts to foil her. While I'm usually a fan of subtlety, I felt many plot points were too subtle--or perhaps just not very well developed. The ending left the story entirely unresolved, every end dangling loose and left to the imagination of the viewer to tie up. I know this was done on purpose, but it actually made me feel cheated after I had invested in finding out what happens to the characters, especially Rossy di Palma's. But I would watch it again.
Also, to address reviews complaining about the anti-Filipino joke--yes, there is a racist joke. It's said by a character who makes many offensive statements throughout the film to highlight their vacuous, poisonous personality. Personally, as a black woman, I wouldnt boycott the film because of it. I understood that I was supposed to be offended by the character, not by the movie itself. I don't believe in making all stories PC to the point of sanitizing them of offensive characters--that makes no sense to me. However, I'm not Filipino, so I can't tell anyone else how to feel about it. It's up to each viewer to decide whether or not they want to watch and thereby support the film. I will say, however, that those who turned it off missed the fact that it goes on to portray the Filipino character about whom the joke was made as very lovely and competent, dispelling the stupid assertion made by the joke.