Michael Mayer’s Single All the Way is Netflix’s latest run of the mill Christmas movie. It’s a product of the modern holiday movie blueprint and all of the tropes are right in your face. It features the typical fear of coming home single during the holidays on top of the best friend is actually my soulmate framework.
It starts out horribly but once the Christmas festivities get under way all is merry and bright.
Single All the Way features some solid lighthearted performances by Michael Urie, Philemon Chambers, Luke Macfarlane, Barry Bostwick, Kathy Najimy and some good old Jennifer Coolidge flamboyance. You can’t ask for too much in a movie like this.
Michael Urie plays Peter—an LA based social media strategist who lives with his best friend Nick—Philemon Chambers. When Peter’s current boyfriend turns out to be a married cheater he’s forced to head home for the holidays all alone! Insert his roommate / best friend who agrees to make the trip home with him disguised as his boyfriend. But the plan doesn’t even get off the ground before the nosey family starts to meddle in Peter’s love life, setting him up with a local hunk James—played by Macfarlane. Even though the family agrees that Peter and Nick should be a couple. The plot is rather messy but it radiates Christmas time so it’s easier to look past all of the nonsense. There’s no need to explain how things end up, it’s super obvious.
This year there actually weren’t too many noteworthy Christmas releases, unless you’re the type of person who consumes the billions of Hallmark level holiday movies that are churned out annually. I think you could count the impressive wide releases on one hand. So while it may be at the bottom of that list I would say Single all the Way still makes the cut for this year. It’s still a decent enough movie to put on during the holiday season. I think it being on Netflix does help a lot.
Unfortunately I’m finally getting around to this review after Christmas but if you’re still in the festive spirit, you can find Single All the Way somewhere on Netflix.
The Spectators' Odyssey 