Togetherness: “Family Day” Review January 2015 Static Age Online Airs Sundays at 10pm on HBO HBO’s latest dramedy offers yet another look at the mid-life crisis There are a number of topics that filmmakers tackle on Much like the rest of HBOʼs current Sunday night the big and small screen each and every year; to the lineup, Togetherness is a continuation of the point where one might wonder: what is left to say on the “mumblecore” movement popular amongst independent matter? The struggles of middle-age life and parenthood film festivals of recent years. Mumblecore makes a point is no doubt one of them. Yet, it seems each year, without to not put an emphasis on plot, but rather let characters fault, that a new bounce off one another in seemingly mundane perspective from a new conversations and, for lack of a better word, just be. voice comes along and breathes new life into Itʼs that commitment to conversation that will turn a the all-too trite subject. number of viewers off to Togetherness. And since the first Thatʼs exactly what the episodesʼ primary purpose is to introduce characters and Duplass brothers establish relationships, we donʼt have a clear idea of what attempt to do with the Duplass brothers will try to convey over the course of HBOʼs Togetherness. their eight episode run. If Girls combined the raunchiness and self-entitlement of millennial females, and Looking Viewers will most likely recognize Mark Duplass as one takes a subdued, post-modern look at the dating scene of the leads from FXʼs fantasy football comedy The for gay men, what will Togetherness do to distinguish League, and his recurring role as a holistic midwife on itself in the all-to-familiar look at the mid-life crisis. FOXʼs The Mindy Project. However, itʼs when he teams up with his brother Jay Duplass on the other side of the Only time will tell. And while it is always tough to judge camera that heʼs garnered an entirely different set of fans a new television series and critical acclaim. The two of them have co-directed by merely one episode, such independent darlings as Cyrus and Jeff Who Lives Togetherness has yet to At Home, while obtaining executive producing credits on prove why it exists. Safety Not Guaranteed and The One I Love. However, with their track record, it wouldnʼt In Togetherness, Mark takes the lead here as the be a mistake to adopt a suburban husband and father of two, Brett, who is “In Duplass, we trust” currently in a rut with his wife Michelle, played by Melanie mantra here either. Lynskey (Away We Go). As if their unhappiness with their sex life wasnʼt enough, Brettʼs struggling actor best friend Alex (Steve Zissis) and Michelleʼs desperately single and over-40 sister Tina (Amanda Peet) are forced to FINAL SCORE: temporarily live with them by the end of the first episode. Itʼs a classic set-up thatʼs been done before by countless successful and unsuccessful pilots in the past. 6/10 Reviewed by: Scott Pachilis.