Single All the Way Synopsis: 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.
After an unexpected breakup, newly single Peter (Michael Urie) asks his best friend and roommate to join him for Christmas in New Hampshire with his family. Aware that his family will judge him for being single yet again, Peter tries to convince Nick to pretend they’re now a couple. Nick (Philemon Chambers) agrees, initially, but before they can announce their new “relationship” to Peter’s family, Peter’s mom tells him that she’s setting him up on a blind date – and Nick does not protest, as he believes Peter should give this new guy a chance.
Single All the Way has a really great cast. Kathy Najimy, Barry Bostwick, Jennifer Robertson, and the always excellent Jennifer Coolidge. Philemon Chambers is an actor I was not familiar with until this movie, and I have only seen Michael Urie in Ugly Betty ages ago, but they were both wonderful as Nick and Peter, best friends harboring deeper feelings but both afraid to act on them. Their chemistry was on point, and I found it believable that they’d been best friends for years.
To throw some conflict into the mix, Peter is considering moving back to New Hampshire from Los Angeles… and the blind date his mom set him on? He’s a spinning instructor named James (Luke Macfarlane), who is also a total hunk. He and Peter hit it off, and James is a viable love interest for Peter, putting his future with Nick in doubt. As Peter tries to balance his visit home, Nick is embraced by Peter’s family, who is also convinced that Nick and Peter should be together.
I love seeing a fully supportive LGBTQ family on screen. Najimy was wonderfully cast as Peter’s mother, Carole, who keeps reading books on being an ally for her son, as was Bostwick, who is probably Nick and Peter’s biggest fan. Coolidge is the fun-loving aunt Sandy, who also directs the local Christmas pageant with vigor but also very little patience. I would have loved to have seen more Aunt Sandy because Jennifer Coolidge has an uncanny ability to steal every scene she’s featured in.
It’s lovely to watch an LGBTQ rom-com without sexuality being the biggest conflict. No one is in the closet, and there is no major source of homophobia – Peter’s family lives in a small town, and the biggest problem he can find is that the pool of gay men is very small. At least that much is relatively believable! Single All the Way is exactly what you expect it to be – a very formulaic Christmas rom-com. But honestly, it’s so enjoyable, with some lovely performances and beautiful holiday scenery. Single All the Way is definitely one to watch around the holidays, especially if you’re a fan of the friends-to-lovers trope like I am!
Watched: 12/24/2022
Notable Song: My Only Wish (This Year) by Britney Spears
