9. A trashy movie: Single All the Way (2021)

List Progress: 1/12

Reviewing a movie like Single All the Way feels silly. If you like cheesy holiday romcoms, you will like this movie, because it is like every other cheesy holiday romcom, with the only real difference being that both leads are men. It has all the substance of cotton candy (or perhaps more fittingly, a snow cone), but you know what, it was a hard year and sometimes you just want something sweet and to make the Yuletide gay (a joke that was absolutely made in the movie itself).

Unlucky-in-love Peter lives a flashy but hollow life in Los Angeles, and longs to move back home to be close to his family in New Hampshire. The only thing that is keeping him in LA is his deep friendship with his roommate Nick, who he has known for nine years. When Peter’s fledgling romantic relationship crumbles right before Christmas, he invites Nick to come with him and they briefly flirt with the idea of passing him off as a fake boyfriend. But the idea is discarded so quickly that it honestly shouldn’t have been seriously brought up, as it only muddles the core premise and makes the trailers very confusing. Peter’s mother sets him up with a local blind date, stacking the temptations to come home even higher, and Peter and Nick have to be honest and come to terms with their feelings towards each other. It plays out exactly as you think it will.

The movie clearly knows that some of its tropes are a bit tactless, and pays lip service to the idea that not all gay male friends need to be interested in one another while still following the trope to a tee. As someone who lives with both my long-time platonic queer best friend and my wife, I would love a movie that actually keeps the friends as just friends, but Single All the Way has no interest in rocking the boat that much. The people are pretty, the love is simple, the side characters are made of tissue paper and that is how the movie likes it.

If you like holiday romcoms, you will like this holiday romcoms. If you don’t, you won’t. If you don’t yet know if you like holiday romcoms, this one will be a good litmus test. As for me, I found it cute, and sometimes that’s just how you need to start off a new year.

Would I Recommend It: Yes.

P.S. I would feel remiss if I didn’t mention the product placement. TaskRabbit is mentioned so many times and is so integral to the plot that you expect to see the company listed as the director.