TOGETHER TOGETHER

TOGETHER TOGETHER is a light comedy about a divorced 45-year-old man who hires a 26-year-old single woman to be the surrogate mother of his baby from an anonymous egg donor. TOGETHER TOGETHER has many funny, touching moments as the man and woman bond together over the experience of bringing a new life into the world, but the movie has a loose structure, an open-ended finish, some foul language, a few references to sexual and bodily functions, and brief pro-abortion comments couched in the euphemistic, false, abhorrent feminist language of “pro-choice.”

The movie opens with Matt, a divorced 45-year-old app designer, interviewing Anna, the 26-year-old female barrista who’s agreed to be the surrogate mother of his new baby. During the interview, Anna says she’s not religious, but her family is, though she’s no longer close to them. Matt also discovers that Anna got pregnant in high school and decided to give up her baby for adoption in a closed adoption process. Matt tells her that’s not a deal breaker for him. So, having decided to hire Anna as the surrogate mother, he takes Anna out to dinner to get to know one another better.

Shortly thereafter, Matt is attending Anna’s visits to the obstetrician’s office. They also both visit with a therapist, while Anna attends group session with surrogate mothers, and Matt attends group sessions with parents who’ve hired surrogate mothers. Anna is taken aback, however, when Matt shows up at the coffee shop where she works. He gives her a special tea for pregnant women, but his visit is a little awkward.

Eventually, though, Anna goes over to Matt’s house to look at the nursery he’s building. She also helps him pick out the paint color for the room. Then, Anna agrees to attend a baby shower that Matt will hold for his baby.

At the baby shower, however, Anna feels a little left out, and the two decide to take a step back from the closeness of the friendship they’ve been building. So, the question becomes, what will happen to their relationship when it comes time for Anna to deliver the baby?

TOGETHER TOGETHER has many funny, touching moments as Matt and Anna bond together over the experience of bringing a new life into the world. Ed Helms and Patti Harrison do a beautiful job of expressing the ups and downs of Anna and Matt’s friendship. Also, although the movie is not a religious one, the process of having a baby is described at one point as a miracle.

However, TOGETHER TOGETHER has a loose structure, with an open-ended finish that’s a little bittersweet. The movie also has some foul language, including two “f” words, a few references to sexual and bodily functions, and brief pro-abortion comments couched in the euphemistic, false feminist language of “pro-choice.” For example, when they first get to know one another, Matt tries to set Anna at ease by telling her that he’s pro-choice when it comes to abortion. He doesn’t want to offend her when he compliments her for deciding, as a teenager, to carry her baby to term and give it up for adoption. The conversation becomes a little awkward between them. At the end of it, Anna says she is herself “pro-choice” even though she carried her first baby to term and signed up to be the surrogate mother of Matt’s baby. Later, she reveals to Matt she wants to use the money for being a surrogate mother to finish her four-year college degree and get a masters degree.

The Bible says all human life is sacred, in the sense that it comes from God, our Divine Creator. Since human life is sacred, so is the means by which human life comes into existence. In Genesis 1:28 and 2:24, God establishes the bonds of holy matrimony, or heterosexual marriage, as the means by which human life is created, where a man shall leave his father and mother and unite with his wife, in a sacred and lasting bond, and the two shall become one flesh. Jesus adds in Matthew 19:1-12 that every valid marriage is a work of God, sating, “What God has joined, let no man tear asunder.” Consequently, the man-made system of surrogate mothers, and even in vitro fertilization between married heterosexual couples, is immoral because they destroy marriage as an institution and turn sacred human life into a commodity for sale. They are also immoral because they involve discarding, freezing, harvesting, and experimenting on a vast number of unborn human baby embryos.

All in all, therefore, MOVIEGUIDE® believes TOGETHER TOGETHER is an unacceptable movie.