So what I hear you saying is this SHOULD have been the Under Your Nose trope where Abby realizes she should have been with Riley all along…
Or are you saying it’s Harper who should have realized she had to lose Abby to understand how much she loves Riley?
Obviously any ending where a character realizes Riley is their true love is going to be a winner.
Bigoldnit, back me up here.
I think my impulse while watching was “Harper kinda sucks, just go out with Riley” for the back half of the movie.
I think it’s a tough thing where it’s a given that they love each other as evidenced by buying a ring and such, but just in the scope of the movie, what you’re supposed to be rooting for is for Abby and Harper to stay together at the end, but it’s hard to root for that when you see nothing but shitty behavior from Harper for an hour and a half.
Also, everybody should just get to date Aubrey Plaza.
Well said!
Thoughts:
Harper is shitty. There are understandable reasons for the shittyness, but she’s still shitty. Breaking Riley’s heart was cruel, but I’m willing to chalk it up to being young and unclear about her own sexuality and going pretty easy on that one.
The way she treats Abby is much less excusable, imo.
First, she lied to her about being out. Dating a closeted person has a lot of potential pitfalls, and if you are dating someone seriously, I think they have the right to know that so that they can decide if they really want to go for the ride on your coming out roller coaster.
Second, she sprung the reveal on her in a way that didn’t really give Abby the option of backing out of the trip, and I think that was pretty manipulative.
Third, in order to maintain her own cover, Harper wanted Abby to play straight which adds another layer of discomfort and manipulation to the charade.
Fourth, she constantly ditched Abby, who literally knew noone there, so that she could hang out with old friends (including her ex). If Harper truly wants to spend the rest of her life with Abby, she should start incorporating her into it.
Finally, and I think most problematically, it’s pretty clear that without the Deus Ex Allison Brie that Harper would have kept this pattern going for a long time. She was always going to like the attention from the ex, was never going to want to disappoint her parents, was always going to want to wait just a little bit longer, and I think that is a recipe for a bad relationship.
I don’t necessarily think Abby should have run off with Riley (but I wouldn’t blame her if she did), but I just kinda think that Harper needs to get some of her own stuff together before she can be in the space to be a full life partner to someone else.
Doesn’t the Abby should be with Riley angle just assume all LGBTQ people are attracted to each other? The movie gives no hint of attraction. The Riley character is there as a friend.
It’s not a romance troupe it’s a LGBTQ people tend to congregate troupe.
I enjoyed this. I’d give it a solid “B.” Some funny parts, some annoying and cheesy parts. In the end, well worth watching once. I don’t think it will be a classic that people watch every Christmas.
It’s tough to portray this when you pick an actor that has chemistry with anyone and everyone. Aubrey Plaza is one of those people.
That is such an excellent point. The whole movie might have played very differently if not for the chemistry Aubrey Plaza instantly brings with the other actors, characters, and the audience.
That happens a lot in filming, too, where a guest character is suddenly recurring and then a regular and they rewrite whole arcs because no one knew the character would be so compelling until they had an actor that transcended the script.
Aaron Paul in Breaking Bad is a good example of that. IIRC Jessie was originally going to die in season one.
Wife and I just finished this. We both really enjoyed it. Also, halfway through we guessed they wouldn’t end up together, so when they did, we were a little disappointed. But my wife pointed out that it’s a holiday movie, so expecting anything other than a happy ending was wishful thinking on our part.
Also, I’m absolutely in love with Jane (Mary Holland). It’s cool, my wife knows.
It’s also a film deeply rooted in romantic comedy troupes so the ending is always predetermined.
Was gonna watch this today. Saw its pg13, cool for a 12 year old boy?
Imo yes. Depending on his knowledge of LGBTQ+ issues it could also be a good jumping off point to discuss a few of the challenges they face. There’s definitely nothing gratuitous about the movie on any level.
I didn’t even think about that. True, the movie is a great jumping off point for a lot of conversations about LGBTQ+ issues. Also all sorts of relationship issues between family, romantic partners, FORMER romantic partners, your friends, your stupid parents. It’s a movie you can easily discuss between a parent and their 12-year-old and not worry about accidentally getting into some deeply uncomfortable topic for both sides LOL.
I mean just asking someone, “You ever kept something a secret because you worried how people would react?”
Or the other side, “You ever wanted to talk about something and the other person just wasn’t ready?”
Who hasn’t been through some version of that? And here the movie gives us an easy relationship to discuss the topic if we’re not ready to see how that applies to our own experiences.
Matt, if y’all end up watching it, please let us know how it goes 
lol pg13. a swear maybe?
The Ted Lasso of Rom-Coms
Cute, if formulaic.
Easy watch, goes down smooth
There is a scene that references two people sneaking into each other’s rooms, but they’ll be just as confused as I was when Vicky Vale screamed, “I can’t believe I slept with you!”
I was like that’s true, sleepovers are a big deal. So clueless lol.
I haven’t had coffee yet so enjoyed the briefest moment in the Industry HBO thread where I forgot where I was and thought @mosdef was making an elite metaphor about Happiest Season
I kind of smh when Ana Gasteyer’s consultant character refuses to run Victor Garber’s mayoral campaign upon hearing he has a lesbian daughter and that his other daughter’s biracial grandchildren will now have two homes.
I guess the salt of the earth community would have been AOK with his having a black SIL and brown grandkids.
That’s a good point. To me, it really speaks more to how much growth Ted needs to go through if these are the kind of donors he has tended to attract/select.
Finally got around to watching this and I am so glad that I did. Never would have without this thread so thanks for the heads up. I loved it. Very funny, well written, well acted. It weaves together humor and the serious subjects so wonderfully. First movie in a long time that made me laugh out loud several times and get teary several times.
“Yea of course I had a boyfriend. I had many. Well an appropriate amount. The last one, he was a…milk…man.”
That awkwardness just works so well.
