Bad things happen to good people.  Not that I experienced any tragedy this past weekend, or that I would count myself in the latter category.  Instead, I attended the LifeTeen Men’s Retreat at Hidden Lake Camp in Dahlonega, Georgia.  I do try to be a good person, but I am humble enough to admit that, like anyone else, there is always room to improve.  As for my getaway, Mass was a main feature of the daily activities.  During one of the homilies, we were reminded of a quote from Pope Benedict XVI, “The world offers you comfort.  But you were not made for comfort.  You were made for greatness.”  To put this in the context of my opening line, no matter what we do, we are going to deal with struggles.  Today’s film, All Together Now (2020), underscores this fact.  Why does a brilliant young woman with everything ahead of her experience so much trauma and take her own life?  How can a hard-working family barely make enough money to provide food for their children?  There are no good answers to these questions, and though I would always recommend that people in such situations turn to God, they might feel like He is not enough for them.  Faith is not about having a comfortable life, but rather understanding that doing good is a sufficient reward in and of itself.  I hope what I am about to write will speak to this truth.

Amber Appleton (Auli’i Cravalho) tells her English as a Second Language (ESL) class All Together Now as she gives them a song to help them practice their words.  She voluntarily teaches these immigrants at Holy Martyrs Korean Catholic Church in Portland, Oregon.  This high school student also works part-time at a retirement home, befriending the toughest resident, Joan (Carol Burnett).  She then labors a little more at a local donut shop to make a few extra dollars.  After her day is done, she goes to where the school district’s busses are parked when not in use to sleep.  She and her mother, Becky Appleton (Justina Machado), are homeless.  Mom arrives a little later, and Amber suspects that she has been drinking, which is an ongoing problem for the parent.  Worse yet, she had been with a man named Oliver (not pictured), whom Becky had taken up with after her husband died.  Because he is abusive and alcoholic, Amber and Becky had gone to stay in the bus that Becky drives for a job.  The tension is dissolved when Amber admits to liking the cheesecake Becky had brought as a meal.  The next day, it is back to her routine of waking up early, doing a little more work, and then stopping at her friend Ricky’s (Anthony Jacques Jr.) house to go with him to school.  They are picked up by Ty (Rhenzy Feliz), another classmate on whom Amber has a crush as evidenced by the fact that she makes him a fried egg sandwich every morning.  As they are walking onto campus, she notices that the tuba player for the marching band does not have an instrument.  Thus, she decides that she is going to dedicate the proceeds for her annual variety show, her yearly pet project for the school, to making sure the band is complete.  In her drama class (I guess), she gets an email from her dream college, Carnegie Mellon University, stating that she has been invited to audition for their School of Performing Arts.  I hope you are sensing a theme here as to the nature of this person.  Not all is perfect, however, aside from her living situation.  As much as Amber is not a fan of Oliver, Becky cannot seem to get away from his grip.  As Amber leaves one morning to begin her day, she runs across her mom, who did not sleep the previous night in the bus with her.  Becky has Oliver’s truck, and she informs her daughter that they can live with her boyfriend.  This is unacceptable to Amber, and the matter is passed over for the moment, helped when she tells her mom about Carnegie Mellon.  The next day, Amber finds a note on the bus saying that it is no longer safe.  Meeting her mom at a diner, Becky admits to losing her job.  Amber tries to stay positive, but all Becky can offer is staying at Oliver’s.  Instead, Amber opts for sleeping on a park bench.  She awakens the next morning to find her backpack stolen, and with it all her money and song books.  Ty provides comfort, and they go to his parent’s summer house in order for her to practice for her upcoming try-out on the other side of the country.  Once they get back to town, she asks Ricky’s mother, Donna (Judy Reyes), if she can stay with her.  Because Donna had always looked at Amber as a daughter, Donna agrees.  Becky is not happy about this arrangement and threatens to call the police.  The following day at school, Amber is summoned by the principal to meet two police officers.  They are there to inform Amber that her mother passed away in a drunk driving accident as a passenger, being driven by the equally inebriated Oliver.  Amber blames herself for the accident, saying that she had been too hard on her mother.  Then comes the day on which she is supposed to travel to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  She is awakened from her sleep by her elderly dog Bobby.  She takes him to the emergency veterinary clinic only to be told that the pet has a life-threatening growth requiring an expensive surgery.  Because Bobby is one of her only remaining links to her deceased parents, she decides to drop out of school to work seventy hours a week to pay for the surgery, angrily ignoring the pleas of her friends.  It is Ty who manages to eventually convince her to come to the variety show on which she had worked so hard.  It turns into a benefit to pay for Bobby’s surgery.  Before the evening concludes, she anonymously gets a $200,000 donation.  It is from the cantankerous Joan, of course.  Restored by the kindness of her friends, she flies to Pittsburgh for her audition.

As a Catholic film reviewer, I could make a mountain out of a mole hill that is at the beginning of All Together Now. Seeing her teaching ESL in a Korean Catholic Church is a reminder of the global reach of the Church.  Lord knows I have made more out of even less cinematic material.  Doing so, however, would not be giving justice to the extraordinary character that is Amber Appleton, or this movie.  As I alluded to in the previous paragraph, though, she is not perfect. While she performs God work of helping those in need, and doing so while being needy herself, there is a certain prideful streak within her that makes it difficult for her to accept commensurate kindness from others.  We have all experienced in some form how hard it is to take an unexpected, no-strings attached gift.  Our culture is such that we tend to look at our interactions with others as transactional.  When we give to others, we look for something in return.  This is not always a bad thing.  Reciprocating good can only lead to more good.  It is when it is when you expect others to return those favors that problems tend to occur.  Such expectations are contrary to how God works.  He bestows upon us so many blessings, the overwhelming majority of which we take for granted, and does so no matter our state in life.  Amber may have been homeless, but she maintained a hope that things would be better.  Though she saw this in material terms, the faithful will know that following God will lead to the best life, that being eternity in Heaven.  Admittedly, such things are hard to see when you are sleeping on a park bench.  Thus, it is up to us to do something about it, holding on to that ultimate hope instead of thinking we should be rewarded now.  The film provides a great way of looking at this as symbolized in the variety show.  God gives everyone talents that are meant to be used for our own benefit, not just for ourselves.  Doing so can literally save people, and Amber is a testament to this fact.

I try not to be bitter about such things because I do want to be a good person, but watching All Together Now slightly irked me.  Why can actresses like Cravalho not get recognized at awards shows for roles like this instead of Emma Stone for whatever it is she did in Poor Things?  In any case, I strongly feel that All Together Now merits a view from you, and I hope it inspires you, and society, to do better.