{"id":6909,"date":"2019-02-10T12:34:59","date_gmt":"2019-02-10T17:34:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/?p=6909"},"modified":"2019-02-10T23:19:52","modified_gmt":"2019-02-11T04:19:52","slug":"review-untogether","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/?p=6909","title":{"rendered":"Review: UNTOGETHER"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Novelist Emma Forrest\u2019s meandering directing debut packs genuine emotional punch.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Writers are miserable people. Films about them often fail to understand their subjects. My favorite of the narrow writer sub-genre has to be Curtis Hanson\u2019s \u201cWonder Boys,\u201d followed, of course, by Spike Jonze\u2019s \u201cAdaptation.\u201d Capturing the frustrating, insular activity of putting words on the page requires that the filmmaker understand the mentality of the writer. Demonstrating that it takes one to know one, with \u201cUntogether,\u201d writer\/director Forrest clearly shows an empathetic grasp on the material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Jamie Dornan and Jemima Kirke play tortured writers involved in a romance.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

An ensemble drama, the film has one-time novelist Andrea (Jemima Kirke) trading her alcohol and drug addiction for a new infatuation with Nick (\u201cFifty Shades\u2019\u201d Jamie Dornan), a doctor, whose wartime memoir has become a bestseller. Andrea is living with her sister Tara (Lola Kirke, real-life sister of Jemima) and her sister\u2019s older boyfriend Martin (Ben Mendelsohn), an insecure, aging rock star. When Tara, a message therapist, meets a progressive rabbi, played by Bill Crystal, she begins to question her relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ben Mendelsohn plays an aging rock star.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Andrea and Nick\u2019s strained romance unfolds as if in real-time. Nick is coping with new found fame, while still working his day job as a doctor. He\u2019s drinking all the time and leaving a string of one-night stands in his wake. But his encounters with Andrea mean something. The trick is whether he notices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And Tara\u2019s journey and her relationship with Martin becomes problematic as she pursues a passing infatuation with a rabbi. It\u2019s good to see Crystal in a fully developed supporting role that does not treat him as the comic relief. He\u2019s restrained, authentic, and still very interesting. And look closely, that\u2019s none-other-than Jennifer Grey playing his wife!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Billy Crystal is given good role as a progressive rabbi.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Given the level of professional talent, \u201cUntogether\u201d doesn\u2019t really qualify as part of the mumblecore school. However, the narrative clearly owes a debt to that style of story-telling, as the events unfold and come to a close in meandering fashion, finding and exploring themes as they evolve. The low-budget mumblecore films are marked by improvisational dialogue making use of untrained talent. Great examples are Andrew Bujalski\u2019s \u201cMutual Appreciation\u201d and his \u201cFunny Ha Ha.\u201d I\u2019ve heard viewers call these type films the \u201cso what\u201d narrative. And while many unfocused movies deserve that designation, \u201cUntogether\u201d manages to avoid the monotonous \u201cso what\u201d moniker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regardless of Forrest\u2019s cinematic influences, she has a handle on her theme and message. Writing is a messy business, which takes its toll on the writer and those around him or her. In today\u2019s environment, no one seems to have time to be sensitive and methodical. Great writing often gets lost in the 24 hour social media cycle. And into the character of Andrea, Forrest presumably projects a bit of herself and her life experience. A novelist, Forrest knows Andrea inside and out, and this is why above all \u201cUntogether\u201d has relatable connective tissue. Writers should identify with Andrea and understand why Nick is struggling with some kind of mounting guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thoughtful and introspective, \u201cUntogether\u201d is a solid directing start for writer Emma Forrest, who should continue the cathartic exploration of the world that she knows intimately.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Emma Forrest directing debut knows its subject intimately.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[1253,79,1256,1254,1255,1258,1257,1259],"class_list":["post-6909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","tag-ben-mendelsohn","tag-drama","tag-emma-forrest","tag-jamie-dornan","tag-jamima-kirke","tag-mumblecore","tag-untogether","tag-writing","no-thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6909"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6909\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6923,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6909\/revisions\/6923"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}