Here Today
In the Community of Single People (CoSP) page, a topic that comes up is “aging while single.” It can be uncomfortable for some of us, because a question we Single at Hearts can get when we tell others we love single life is, “Who will take care of you when we get old?”
Here Today tries to answer that question. Billy Crystal of the singlism-enabling When Harry Met Sally plays Charlie Burnz, a legendary comedy writer who’s suffering from dementia. In the film’s opening scene, he’s reciting the directions he takes on his walk to work (“Turn left here”). Only he and his doctor know about it. His relationship with his kids is strained for reasons I won’t spoil, so he hasn’t told them. He occasionally lapses in his words at the TV show he works at, but his colleagues, who revere him, think that’s just Charlie being Charlie.
One day, Charlie goes on a lunch date with someone who won it at an auction, and meets Emma Page, played by Tiffany Haddish, who I LOVED in the pro-single Girls Trip. It turns out she doesn’t know who Charlie is; she just took the lunch date to spite her ex, a fan who bid $22 on said luncheon. After she has an allergic reaction to some seafood, Charlie ends up paying the bill and shooting her buttock with a life-saving Epipen. From there, they become friends.
And this is what makes it a pro-single movie. There were moments when I thought it might lean in a more conventional direction (a stare between the two of them), but Charlie shares things with her he’s never shared with anyone else. After a talk with her about how he met his wife, he finally begins to write the novel about his family he’s been planning. Sometimes it can take the right person to push you to do that thing you’ve been putting off, and it warmed my heart that it was a friend.
When Charlie’s dementia worsens, Emma’s in the doctor’s office with him, and she immediately volunteers to forgo touring with her band (she’s a talented singer) to care for him. That’s a friend!
Another nice pro-single touch: in a subplot, Charlie mentors Darryl, a talented but shy writer on the show. When he advises him to write about personal things like his girlfriend, Darryl despondently replies, “I don’t have a girlfriend.” Instead of advising him to get one, Charlie says, “You can make humor out of being single. You can be INCREDIBLY single.” The resulting skit could be perceived as singlist, but it is a hit, and Darryl’s arc, thankfully, does not end with him pairing up. But he does find his groove as a writer on the show.
Here Today is not a perfect movie. Charlie was married for several years, and the movie does err in using some awkward first-person point of view shots to illustrate their dynamics. And there’s some uneasy mixture of sentimentality and comedy. But overall, I got misty-eyed at the end, as Emma is accepted as part of Charlie’s family, sans romance.
Here Today tries to answer that question. Billy Crystal of the singlism-enabling When Harry Met Sally plays Charlie Burnz, a legendary comedy writer who’s suffering from dementia. In the film’s opening scene, he’s reciting the directions he takes on his walk to work (“Turn left here”). Only he and his doctor know about it. His relationship with his kids is strained for reasons I won’t spoil, so he hasn’t told them. He occasionally lapses in his words at the TV show he works at, but his colleagues, who revere him, think that’s just Charlie being Charlie.
One day, Charlie goes on a lunch date with someone who won it at an auction, and meets Emma Page, played by Tiffany Haddish, who I LOVED in the pro-single Girls Trip. It turns out she doesn’t know who Charlie is; she just took the lunch date to spite her ex, a fan who bid $22 on said luncheon. After she has an allergic reaction to some seafood, Charlie ends up paying the bill and shooting her buttock with a life-saving Epipen. From there, they become friends.
And this is what makes it a pro-single movie. There were moments when I thought it might lean in a more conventional direction (a stare between the two of them), but Charlie shares things with her he’s never shared with anyone else. After a talk with her about how he met his wife, he finally begins to write the novel about his family he’s been planning. Sometimes it can take the right person to push you to do that thing you’ve been putting off, and it warmed my heart that it was a friend.
When Charlie’s dementia worsens, Emma’s in the doctor’s office with him, and she immediately volunteers to forgo touring with her band (she’s a talented singer) to care for him. That’s a friend!
Another nice pro-single touch: in a subplot, Charlie mentors Darryl, a talented but shy writer on the show. When he advises him to write about personal things like his girlfriend, Darryl despondently replies, “I don’t have a girlfriend.” Instead of advising him to get one, Charlie says, “You can make humor out of being single. You can be INCREDIBLY single.” The resulting skit could be perceived as singlist, but it is a hit, and Darryl’s arc, thankfully, does not end with him pairing up. But he does find his groove as a writer on the show.
Here Today is not a perfect movie. Charlie was married for several years, and the movie does err in using some awkward first-person point of view shots to illustrate their dynamics. And there’s some uneasy mixture of sentimentality and comedy. But overall, I got misty-eyed at the end, as Emma is accepted as part of Charlie’s family, sans romance.
