New on Netflix is All Together Now, a dramedy which falls under the category of a light entertainer but isn’t anything more than that. Al Together Now is an adaptation of Matthew Quick’s Novel Sorta Like a Rockstar. He also is the author of Silver Linings Playbook. This film tries too hard to tug on your heartstrings and I would not lie, it almost manages at certain points. But, you are also reminded that the plot is way too sugary and unreal.
The film is targetted towards a slightly younger crowd, so you know what to expect. Auli’i Cravalho’s performance is definitely a lot more than just decent, she looks promising and you’d hope to see more of her in the future. This film constantly oscillates between the adversities of life and the brighter things one should turn towards, all of which will not settle exactly how the director hopes for!
Amber Appleton (Auli’i Cravalho), the protagonist, is all smiles, perky and optimistic about everything life has to offer. Her mother (Justina Machado) is the reason why she is not exactly the ‘old’ Amber anymore. There is not much that’s going on in the film, in terms of the content. However, life constantly throws curveballs at Amber’s way.
All Together Now is a feel-good movie, but it lacks a robust plotline. A film which tackles too much (honestly, there’s so much on Amber’s plate) but still is filled with impractical positivity. Somewhere, the film loses its essence and your interest because of the excessively comfortable and pleasing storyline. All Together Now fails to leave a mark and misses it quite often. The presence of music as a dominant element has been treated fairly and offered adequately too.
Speaks volumes about collective care and… healing!
A series of unfortunate incidents keep happening in Amber’s life which has devastated her, topping which she is homeless. The narration of the story, however, happens to be agreeable and you would find yourself sympathising with the protagonist.
Despite all the impediments that come Amber’s way and keeps her away from becoming a singer, there’s plenty of people who have extended their love, care and support to her. Collectively, Amber finds her friends, their families and even the school she studies at to the donut shop owner – everybody is all compassionate and understanding of Amber’s problems (makes me wonder though, where do you find these kinds of people anyway?).
Considering the number of stumbling blocks… it all seems innocuous at the end!
Yes, there’s no denying or discounting the fact that the film did send an important message about the power of collective care and love, but it also, at the same time, dilutes and contradicts the very reason why the film is made. There’s subtlety, great performances but there’s still so much lacking – that is a lingering feeling that a viewer will go through.
Another drawback of the film happens to be less time devoted to character building. There is almost no character study, let alone building, in the case of Amber’s mother. Any emotional reaction or response that the viewer is expected to give dies a slow death similar to the viewer’s expectation from the film.
All Together Now has it all together by the end but it scores poorly on the satisfaction meter!
The insurmountable loss, the numerous other hardships, but here we have Amber, who is ever so brave at the face of adversities. It feels unreal, unfair and honestly, insipid. This film needs quite a number of reality checks! Amber’s character, all in all, lacks layers, depth and is shown as too good to be true, which is off-putting! The unrealistic elements are in aplenty, I mean talking of the donation? What on earth is going on? (I don’t intend to give out spoilers).
The film could deliver better through an understandably optimistic plotline because this has lost all the flavour from all the sweetness! Skip All Together Now as you’ll find better and realistic dramedies waiting to be watched.
All Together Now is streaming on Netflix.