SINGLE ALL THE WAY is a familiar trip

If you are hoping for the great gay holiday movie, the wait goes on. While SINGLE ALL THE WAY is a nice addition to a growing stockpile of queer holiday fare, I thought Netflix would dare to go farther than Hallmark has in the past. Alas, it is predictable in every way. If you want another movie where gays seek our small towns, snow, and selecting Christmas trees on contrived dates, this is it. As for sex or heat, they are in short supply.

This time the very game and buttoned up Michael Urie is Peter, an unhappy man from LA who pines for his family in small town New Hampshire. Need I mention his hobby is caring for his house plants? His family wants him to find love, but when he is suddenly single on the eve of the trip, he convinces his handsome roommate Nick to join him.

Nick (Philemon Chambers) of course is a dream, costumed (by Véronique Marchessault) in beautiful sweaters, which he often takes off to provide studliness while he stares at Peter adoringly. When Peter’s mother sets up him on a blind date with a very bulked up Luke Macfarlane, the sexual and comic sparks should fly.

Only the formidable Jennifer Coolidge brings the film fully alive, as the somewhat drunk and sexy Aunt Sandy who is the director and star of the kid’s holiday pageant. The esteemed ensemble – Kathy Najimy, Barry Bostwick, and a host of kids as relatives – do what they can.

The film is directed by Tony Award winner Michael Mayer but has no tricks up his sleeve on this project. Chad Hodge wrote the screenplay.

I found myself wanting to read the best-selling kids book that Nick has written about his rescue dog. Cue the holiday music, snow, and cheer. The trailer below has all of the best lines.