Single All the Way
Director: Michael Mayer
Writer: Chad Hodge
Cast: Michael Urie, Philemon Chambers, Luke Macfarlane, Barry Bostwick, Jennifer Robertson, Madison Brydges, Alexandra Beaton, Jennifer Coolidge, Kathy Najimy
Seen on: 15.12.2021

Plot:
Peter (Michael Urie) and Nick (Philemon Chambers) have been best friends forever. So when things don’t work out with Peter’s boyfriend just before Christmas, Peter asks Nick to pretend to be his date for the holidays with his family. Nick happily visits Peter’s family, but declines the subterfuge. So instead Peter gets set up on a date with his mother’s (Kathy Najimy) fitness instructor James (Luke Macfarlane). But other members of Peter’s family are certain that he should be with Nick for real. And maybe Nick thinks so, too.

Single All the Way is the cute, fun Christmas romance you’re looking for. It gets the tone just right to be utterly sweet without being saccharine, and has charm coming out of its ears.

I had heard good things about Single All the Way and given that it’s a gay holiday movie, I knew I had to watch it. I’m not necessarily the world’s biggest holiday movie fan, but I do like watching a couple every year, and if you make them queer, well, I’m even more here for it. I’m happy to say that Single All the Way is absolutely satisfying.

Urie and Chambers have wonderful chemistry with each other, and their friendship feels absolutely real, which is especially great for aromantic me. But it was a complete joy to watch them fall in love. Or realize they’ve been in love all along. It will warm even the coldest heart to watch this, I think.

The film has a great sense for characters who are quirky as befits a comedy (Coolidge is fantastic!), but retain a realistic and serious core. It is also just lovely that this piece of escapism is not interested in homomisia at all. We need those spaces, too. And I really liked that they leaned into “gay culture”, if you like, without relying on stereotypes.

Overall, it’s a film to make you happy and warm, and that is just what I hope for in a RomCom, whether holiday themed or not, whether queer or not. It’s hard to achieve, but Single All the Way is a full success.

Summarizing: pretty damn wonderful.