‘Together Together’ better than same-old, same-old
Originality isn’t a word often associated with the romantic comedy. Tired? Yes. Obvious? You bet. Ingenious and cuttingedge? Not so much.
But two new releases catapult the genre into exciting new directions. “Together Together” and “We Broke Up” top our movie highlights this week. Note that the ballyhooed “Mortal Kombat” redo (on HBO Max and in theaters), as well as the Japan anime box-office champ “Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train” (in theaters) are both out this week but were not available to review.
Here’s our rundown.
“TOGETHER TOGETHER” >> Predictable in certain ways and refreshingly untraditional in others, writer-director Nicole Beckwith’s sweetheart of a San Francisco-set comedy-drama celebrates a subject that’s rarely explored on film: platonic relationships. Beckwith’s Sundance feature is a bighearted paean to finding comfort in friends, but it’s more tart than sugarcoated. “Together” focuses on a well-to-do app maker, Matt (Ed Helms), and Anna (Patti Harrison), who will be giving the single man the child he’s wanted. Beckwith tweaks the sitcomy premise making their initial meetup hilariously awkward by showcasing the contrasts of these two complicated individuals. Helms and Harrison make perfect comedic magic; they’re in sync when their characters get out of sync. Julio Torres is a scene-stealer as a sassy gay barista co-worker of Anna’s. He gets the biggest laughs in a delightfully undemanding film that will put a huge smile on your face. DETAILS >> \*\*\* out of 4; in theaters Friday; available to stream May 11.
“WE BROKE UP” >> When Doug (William Jackson Harper of TV’s “The Good Place”) pops the question to longtime girlfriend Lori (Aya Cash) at the Portland, Oregon, coffee
shop where she works he gets a most unwelcome response — she gets sick on him. A quick breakup ensues, days before the nuptials of Lori’s sister Bea (Sarah Bolger) to a coarse but endearing groom-tobe (Tony Cavalero). Screenwriters Jeff Rosenberg — who also directs — and Laura Jacqmin effectively juggle the pain of a dissolution with uneasy laughs. Harper and Cash are ideal, and the writing and direction make this one broken affair to remember. DETAILS >> \*\*\*; available to stream Friday.
“STREET GANG: HOW WE GOT TO SESAME STREET” >> Fresh off its closing-night screening at the San Francisco International Film Festival, Marilyn Agrelo’s Sundance favorite arrives to delight young and old alike. It covers the iconic PBS show’s inception and how it brought a diversity of representation to children’s programming while influencing others to do the same. Agrelo uses Michael Davis’ book of the same title for her nostalgic plunge into the origin stories
of Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, Bert and Ernie and many others. If you loved the Mister Rogers documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” this is a definite must. DETAILS >> \*\*\*; opening Friday in select theaters; available to stream May 7.
“HOPE” >> A tragic cancer diagnosis redefines a dissonant marriage in Maria Sødahl’s astute work, a shortlisted Oscar entry for foreign language film that avoids manipulation and doesn’t wallow in despair. As the work-focused Norwegian couple who rediscover undiscovered strength from each other, Andrea Braein Hovig and Stellan Skarsgard are transcendent. Sødahl’s “Hope” avoids pat resolutions, and gives us a very human, very relatable tale set around the holidays.
DETAILS >> \*\*\*/*; in select theaters.
“BOYS FROM COUNTY HELL” >> A family-run construction business in a twee Irish hamlet unearths bloody trouble in Chris Baugh’s
wickedly entertaining vampire lark. Baugh’s a terrific genre filmmaker and here he ventures away from the hard-edged neo-noir of his 2017 crime thriller “Bad Day for the Cut” to successfully tap a rich vein of horror and comedy. He brings to life a fully realized town named Six Mile Hill, complete with a bar named Stoker — after the “Dracula” writer — and the kooky town “characters” who populate it. Jack Rowan stars as a stuck-in-a-rut town jokester taking on the fanged ones who are draining the town of its lifeblood. DETAILS >> \*\*\*; available today on Shudder.
“THE BANISHING” >> A Shudder release that’s a little less successful is Chris Smith’s latest, a 1930s-era thriller that starts with promise as sexually repressed wife and doting mother Marianne (Jessica Brown Findlay) moves into a haunted England manor with her stiff-collared reverend husband. Soon, their daughter starts acting strange, and that’s right about when “The Banishing” loses its nerve and succumbs to commonplace plot devices rather than going for the jugular. Still, Smith and Findlay make it watchable. DETAILS >> \*\*/*; available on Shudder.
“DOWNSTREAM TO KINSHASA” >> Noted for being the first Oscar submission from the Congo, Dieudo Hamadi’s documentary is angry and powerful, an immersive experience on the aftermath of the Congo’s 2000 Six Day War, which left 1,000 dead and 3,000 wounded. Hamadi follows a band of survivors — most of whom lost limbs in the carnage — as they travel by barge to Kisangani to demand that Parliament recognize recognize their plight and help pay for medical costs and prosthetics. “Downstream” serves as a blunt and sad reminder of the injustices many suffer from those who are supposed to protect them. DETAILS >> \*\*\*; available to stream Friday as part of the Virtual Cinema series at the Roxie Theater; www.roxie.com. At 11 a.m., Saturday, tune in to hear Hamadi in a conversation with Muadi Mukenge, from the Priority African Network, and human rights lawyer Evelyne Ombeni.
“REEFA” >> A charismatic lead performance from Tyler Dean Flores as the late graffiti artist Israel “Reefa” Hernandez Jr. elevates writer-director Jessica Kavana Dornbusch’s conventional but compelling biopic. The 18-yearold Hernandez died in 2013 after a Miami Beach police officer shocked him with a Taser after he was caught spray-painting a building. Dornbusch’s scenes relating to his Colombian immigrant family life resonate much more than the depiction of his relationship with a model (Clara McGregor). But given recent headlines, “Reefa” is timely and needed.
DETAILS >> \*\*/*; available to stream on various platforms.