Peter and Nick are just friends.
Peter's family knows better.
Peter's family knows better.
Single All the Way is a 2021 Netflix Christmas movie, and notable for being their first holiday romcom to feature a gay main couple.
Peter (Michael Urie) is a social media manager from Los Angeles who's dreading being the only single member of his family when he goes back home for Christmas, especially since his family has a general lack of boundaries and a great propensity for shipping. He convinces his best friend and roommate Nick (Philemon Chambers) to come with him and pretend to be his boyfriend, since his family already thinks they should be together.
When they arrive, his mother (Kathy Najimy) surprises Peter first with a blind date with James (Luke Macfarlane), seemingly the only other gay man in town. Nick is happy to stay and help out around the house, but when the rest of Peter's family realizes the connection between the two friends they — especially the nieces (Alexandra Beaton and Madison Brydges) — decide to push them together instead, using tropes pulled right out of a fanfic playbook.
Starring Barry Bostwick, Jennifer Coolidge.
Single All the Way contains the following tropes:
- All Gays Love Theater: Lampshaded. When it's suggested that Peter and Nick help Sandy with the Christmas pageant, Peter's mother Carole says it's a negative stereotype to assume they could because they're gay. Lisa says it's because Peter does photography and Nick is a handyman.Lisa: Nick and Peter need to help Aunt Sandy with the pageant!
Carole: Lisa, wait, are you insinuating that just because Nick and Peter happen to be are gay, that they know theater? Because that's another misconception that I read about in my book.
Lisa: No, Mom. What I'm saying is Peter is really creative and he puts together, like, productions and photoshoots all the time. And Nick is super handy and he can build things like sets. - Bit Character: Peter's sisters and their husbands rarely factor into the plot beyond agreeing with the rest of the family. Lisa's husband Tony is only ever seen next to her, and the younger sister Lisa and her husband Jim barely get any lines. Even their kids (Peter's nephews) have more impact on the plot.
- Chekhov's Gun: Nick's money that he got from publishing his children's book. He spends a little to fly to New Hampshire with Peter, but the rest he says is being saved for a rainy day. He ends up using it to purchase a store in town and pay the first six month's rent so that Peter can start his dream of running a plant shop.
- Eating the Eye Candy: Peter takes a peek at a freshly-showered and towel-clad Nick while the latter isn't looking, then stops himself.
- Everyone Can See It: Peter's whole family ships him with Nick. His older nieces think him and Nick should be together. His younger nephew thinks they already are together. When Peter goes on a date he talks about Nick so much that even his date suggests maybe they should be together.
- Fag Hag: Implied with Peter's brassy, flamboyantly self-centered, unmarried Aunt Sandy. She likes gay men because they "know how to do stuff" and, "for some reason," tend to love her. Given that her whole vibe is that of an aging Drag Queen who just happens to be female, it makes sense.
- Fake Relationship: Early on, Peter and Nick plan to do this. When they actually get there, the plan gets scrapped, subverting the trope. Later revealed that their origin story was pretending to be engaged in order to get a discount at a gym.Peter: That kind of thing comes easily to us. It's how we met, actually.
James: How'd you meet?
Peter: So nine years ago I had just moved to L.A. It was literally my second day in tow, and I was doing what every gay guy does on his second day in a new city.
James: Joining a gym.
Peter: Correct. And Nick was also there doing the exact same thing. He had also just moved to L.A.—but we didn't know any of this yet. And then I heard that the couple ahead of us was getting a family discount. We didn't have to say a word. When it was our turn, we improvised the whole thing. We were from Chicago. We'd been together for three years. We were engaged, but we didn't have the rings yet. We'd just driven all the way to L.A. with Chelsea, our African gray parrot. I mean, we got the family discount. - Genre Savvy: Nieces Daniela and Sofia catch on very quickly that Peter and Nick are leads in a holiday romcom and are a better match for each other than Peter and James. They get the rest of the family involved, calling their mother while the men are on a date at her pub so she try to ruin their date, and even fall asleep in Peter's bed so he's forced to bunk with Nick for the night.
- Have a Gay Old Time: Nick makes a joke about Peter "donning his gay appeal" when he gets ready for his date.
- He Is Not My Boyfriend: People constantly think Peter and Nick are or should be together. They deflect by saying that this is just what all straight people say of gay friends. A crack in this excuse forms when Peter tells this to James, expecting him to agree and have his own stories about straight people thinking that he and his gay friends are dating. But to Peter's slight surprise, James says no, he can't relate, that doesn't happen him. Apparently gay friends can be believably platonic when they're not secretly in love with each other.
- Insistent Terminology: Peter's mom Carole demands to be called Christmas Carole all through December, and corrects anyone who slips up.
- Just Friends: Peter and Nick tell everyone they're just friends. Peter's father regards his wife as his best friend and thus sees friendship as no deterrent—indeed, an advantage—to such a duo dating.Nick: Well, I'm his best friend.
Harold: Well, my wife is my best friend in the whole world. So? - Large Ham: Aunt Sandy bursts into the family home while singing "Joy to the World" (specifically the Whitney Houston cover), and her attempts at directing the Christmas pageant usually end with her shouting dramatically at the kids about their lack of dedication.
- Longing Look: Nick tends to pensively gaze at Peter any time Peter going out with James is mentioned.
- Love Confessor: Peter and Nick each separately confess to the nieces that they'd love to go for it, but they're scared if they make a move and the other doesn't feel the same way their friendship will be ruined. Of course since the nieces are playing The Matchmaker, they use this to their advantage.
- The Matchmaker: Peter's nieces Daniela and Sofia take it upon themselves to get Peter and Nick together as soon as they see them with each other, and eventually rope the rest of the family into helping.
- Missing Mom: Peter mentions how Nick's mom passed away ten years ago and that's why he doesn't wand him to be alone on Christmas. No mention is made of Nick's dad.
- My Beloved Smother: Peter's mom Carole is trying to subvert this after years of being one. Just before he's about to enact the fake-dating scheme he concocted with Nick, Carole apologizes for constantly saying they should get together because she understands she was just stereotyping them, and that she found someone else for Peter to go on a blind date with.
- Romantic False Lead: James for Peter, and it's so obvious that everyone can see it. Including him.
- Shipper on Deck: Peter's nieces aggressively ship him with Nick. His dad does too, and has for a while. Eventually they bring the whole family in on it. The only exception is his mom, and that's only because she'd been one for the past several years and was trying not to assume that the two would end up together. While she initially chides the family for doing the same, she relents and is overjoyed when she realizes that they really do belong together.
- Shipper with an Agenda: Peter's mom hopes that if Peter meets a local guy he's interested in, he might move back to the family hometown to be with him, and then she'd get to see more of her son.
- There Is Only One Bed: Invoked Trope when Peter's nieces intentionally go to sleep in his bed, forcing him to go bunk with Nick.
- Trailers Always Spoil: An odd example. The trailer seems to be setting up a Fake Relationship premise, but halfway through the dialogue between everyone indicates that this plot is dropped pretty soon in the film proper.
- Yaoi Fangirl: Implied that Peter's nieces' shipping habits are informed by fanfic.
