Single All the Way, or: JC forever

Finally here we are on the cusp of the Festive season and ready to mingle all the way with as many godawful Christmas movies as we can – or at least that’s my plan for the rest of the month. Don’t you just love that after the first few days of December, you’re legally permitted to put things off until the New Year – and eat cheese with every meal?

Hey I don’t make the rules, man.

Have I ever mentioned my true love for Crimbo flicks? Honestly, the cheesier and low rent the better. Amazon Prime seems to have the best Hallmark collection – you know they’re all called Christmas at Holly Cottage or a variation of that – and you could set your watch by them. Maybe that’s why I like them so much – Christmas is the one time of the year where happy endings and a candy-coloured paint by numbers plot are completely permissible.

Bring it, I say.

Desperate to avoid his family’s judgment about his perpetual single status, Peter convinces his best friend Nick to join him for the holidays and pretend that they’re now in a relationship.

Film: Single All the Way (2021)

*Spoilers*

TW: Extreme cuteness

Peter and Nick (Michael Urie and Philemon Chambers) are L.A. room-mates and best friends. Sick to the back teeth of the grief he gets for being terminally single every time he sees the fam, Peter’s chuffed to be able to bring new boyfriend Tim into the mix this Christmas. Until he finds out Tim’s actually married to a woman. While he’s gutted, he also doesn’t want to return home for the holidays empty-handed, so convinces Nick to come and pretend to be his boyfriend.

This doesn’t go according to plan however, when mum Carole (Kathy Najimy) announces that she’s set Peter up on a blind date with the spinning instructor from her gym. He eventually agrees to go along with encouragement from his BFF and mother.

Meanwhile, the rest of the family begin to show up in New Hampshire, including Peter’s sisters, nieces and majestic Aunt Sandy (Jennifer Coolidge), who’s directing the annual children’s Christmas pageant. While Peter is distracted, his father Harold privately confides in Nick that his son seems happiest when they’re together – and that he always pictured them ending up as a couple.

When the nieces Sofia and Daniela hatch a plot to push Nick and Peter together too, it seems like there can only be one conclusion to all this. But with James the spinning instructor being a straight up hottie (and decent guy) – and Peter conflicted about his future plans to possibly ditch L.A. to move back home for his family – is the love affair we’re all rooting for doomed from the start?

Well, it’s Christmas bitches, so prepare for all your romantic dreams to come true, if just for 90 minutes or so.

Thoughts

There are no surprises here obviously but this is such a good-natured, sweet Christmas rom-com. Nick is almost too good to be true and we don’t get much by way of his back story, though I think there’s a hint that Peter and his family pretty much took him in as a child. We do know that he once wrote a successful children’s book but is now a handy man on call. Maybe I would have liked to enjoy more time with just the two of them, deciphering their chemistry. The little photo shoot we get in the woods isn’t enough.

I do have questions regarding Pete’s plan to pass Nick off as his boyfriend all of a sudden. If the family know them so well as best friends, why would they buy it? Or at least without masses of their own questions. And on the other hand, if they were all so convinced our boys should be together, why only start suggesting it so voraciously now? I guess now’s not the time to unpacked the weaker plot points but I just wanted these on record somewhere.

Predictably, Jennifer Coolidge is perfect in every way possible and gets all the best lines, but I really loved Michael Urie in Ugly Betty – which I finished re-watching last week – so I enjoyed seeing him again so soon afterwards. This might not make it onto the top tier Christmas movie list but it’s a fun one that I look forward to revisiting next year. It’s also a fine addition to the growing mainstream LGBTQ+ Christmas movie cannon.

As Britney said, Gimme more.

MY RATING: 3.5/5

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How did Jill enjoy this little number? Would she support it on opening night or leave it out in the cold? Find out here.