“Single All The Way” Review

Story posted December 15, 2021 in CommRadio, Arts & Entertainment by Caelan Chevrier

In the ​​Michael Mayer-directed rom-com, “Single All The Way,” an attempt was made to tell a compelling love story between two LGBT individuals, but it often trips over itself and falls flat.

Starring fresh faces Michael Urie, Philemon Chambers and Luke Macfarlane, an almost love triangle develops around the holiday season.

Urie’s character, Peter, is concerned that he will be ridiculed by his family for being single during Christmas again. He enlists his roommate and best friend Nick (Chambers) to pose as his boyfriend so no questions are asked.

Little does Nick know, his mother set him up on a blind date hoping that he will find a long-lasting partner. After a series of dates, Nick realizes who he has been in love with the entire time.

On paper, the ideas that are presented are a good idea, however, the execution is very flawed. All of the characters are somewhat realistic and relatable, but too many times the film goes over the top trying to add comedic elements.

Audiences can predict how the movie ends from the first 10 minutes of the first act. Even the trailer spoils the surprise if it could be called that.

This would be okay if the main characters had any sort of chemistry at all, but nearly every interaction between the two seems awkward. Even interactions with the other characters seem a little weird, but perhaps this was intentional.

The movie clocks in at an hour and 40 minutes, and it probably could have been a half-hour shorter. There were a few unnecessary plotlines such as all of the pageant-related scenes, and the children's book ones too. These were thrown in as more attempts at comedy, but the jokes were very hit or miss.

Two moments brought on a chuckle, but aside from that, it was clear that the writer tried a little too hard.

Jennifer Coolidge’s character could have been hilarious as she usually is in another programming, but the writing did not give her much to work with. Her “Crazy Aunt” character came off as more obnoxious than anything else.

Overall, none of the performances truly stood out, but no one was inherently bad either. Once again, it was very hard to be convinced that either of the main characters had any sort of feelings for each other.

The Queerness of the characters plays a minor role in the film although it is referenced countless times. There is no conflict within the family or outsiders about the character's sexuality, but instead encouraged and supported. Truly, the characters could have been straight and the plot could have been the same.

The directing choices were fine, however, there was nothing that stood out either. This is the same with the music choices as well, it all seemed very normal for Netflix’s standards.

“Single All The Way” is a very average movie with nothing unique about it. It is a very casual watch that can be enjoyed by almost anybody, but it is not replayable. It adds to the already bloated release schedule of holiday films, and simply just exists.

Rating: 2/5 stars 

Caelan Chevrier is a second-year majoring in journalism. To contact him, email cjc6789@psu.edu.

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Caelan Chevrier

Third Year / Marketing & Journalism

Caelan Chevrier is a third-year student in the Smeal College of Business at Penn State University studying marketing and broadcast journalism with the goal of graduating with a bachelor’s degree in four years. His career goal is to spread informative, meaningful, and entertaining content across various platforms and to be a positive impact on the community. He has also spent time working at WWE in the communications department and writing for The Westport Local Press in his hometown of Westport, CT. If you’d like to contact him, email him at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).