They Came Together is a 2014 Romantic Comedy satire directed by David Wain and written by David Wain and Michael Showalter.
The film stars Amy Poehler and Paul Rudd as the seemingly perfect rom-com couple, with Poehler playing Molly, a klutzy but endearing owner of an independent candy shop, and Rudd playing Joel, who works for a large corporation threatening to destroy Molly's candy store. These two characters, initially at odds, form an unlikely romance that follows as many romantic comedy beats as possible, sometimes to ridiculous proportions.
Tropes in the movie include:
- Almost Kiss:
- Joel and Molly's lips almost touch at the bookstore, but Molly turns around because her Aunt Flo is (literally) visiting.
- After their first date, Molly and Joel almost kiss again, but this time Joel turns away because he still misses his ex girlfriend Tiffany.
- Ambiguously Bi: Molly spends much of the movie pursuing Joel, but at one point kisses her best friend Wanda (who isn't into it) because she "felt like [she] was getting a vibe" from her.
- Amicable Exes: Molly and Joel decided to stay friends after their divorce. Subverted in that they decide to try dating again after seeing their story's impact on Kyle and Karen.
- As You Know: Joel's best friend, Bob, spends half of his introduction scene affirming that he's Joel's best friend and bluntly telling Joel about his own commitment issues. Joel's boss outright opens with "as you know" in the next scene as he reminds his employees about the Candy Systems and Research Superstore construction.
- Audience Surrogate: Karen and Kyle are the more normal couple listening to Joel and Molly's odd story, and their comments about said story often reflect the audience's potential confusion and frustration.
- Better than Sex: Molly claims her creamy caramel cluster candies are better than sex. Kyle bluntly responds, "When you've been married as long as we have, taking a stinky shit is better than sex."
- Big Applesauce: The movie takes place in the Upper West Side of Manhattan and alludes to the prominence of New York City in romantic comedies, with Joel and Molly referring to it as another main character in their story. This is carried over to the credits, which notes that the film "was shot on location in New York City, which is kind of like another character."
- Bland-Name Product:
- Molly thinks Joel should go to a big bookstore chain like "Brams and Nerbils," a reference to the real-life bookstore Barnes and Noble.
- Molly and Joel talk about the services where people can download a song from the film, such as "I-tones," "Rhapsory," "Amasong," and "Svandorga," which vaguely sound like real-life music streaming services.
- Blatant Lies: Roland claims that, despite there being crap in his costume and him wearing a bathrobe, that he did not shit in his costume and then take a shower, and that the bathrobe is just a new costume and someone else put on his costume and shit in it. Nobody believes him.
- Chekhov's Gag: When Molly first starts dating Joel, she tests him by wearing a pair of Groucho glasses to see if he notices her change in appearance. He does, which endears her to him. Near the end of the film, she does the same test to Eggbert at her wedding. He doesn't notice the glasses, which convinces her that he isn't the one, so she calls off the wedding and runs off.
- Commonality Connection: Parodied. Joel and Molly begin to bond over broad and odd similarities, such as both having grandmothers and enjoying "fiction books" and Q-tips. More subtly, Joel wants to own his own coffee shop, which appeals to the small business owner Molly.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Candy Systems and Research is run by Roland, a sinister man whose first order of business when planning to build a new candy superstore is to seek out and destroy any possibly competing candy stores. All the employees (sans Joel) are shown to be cruel people who mock Upper Sweet Side just for having a "stupid" name and get excited about destroying it.
- Costume-Test Montage: Wanda helps Molly pick an outfit change via peppy montage before Joel apologizes for blowing their date, since Molly is inexplicably dressed as a chimney sweep at work. She spends so much time trying to pick an outfit that Joel assumes she's not even there and leaves, and Molly has to try to find him while stuck in a knight costume.
- Crash-Into Hello: Joel and Molly meet on Halloween when they crash into each other and drop all their groceries. They snap at one another, not realizing they're going to the same party.
- Cute Clumsy Girl: Parodied with Molly, who can't even get out of bed without trashing her whole room and tumbling down her stairs, though she laughs it all off.
- Destination Defenestration: Bob gets accidentally knocked out a window with a football and hangs on for dear life. He ends up fine in the next scene, luckily.
- Disappeared Dad: Molly is a single mom raising a son because his father is in jail. The dad, Spike, shows up at the end of the film and fights Joel for Molly's hand in marriage.
- Don't Explain the Joke: Every time Joel brings up his idea for a coffee shop called "Cup of Joel," he awkwardly explains the pun on "cup of joe."
- Double-Meaning Title: The title refers to Joel and Molly becoming closer as a couple, but also serves as a sexual Double Entendre, alluding to the film's raunchy humor.
- Drowning My Sorrows: After learning that Tiffany cheated on him, Joel sadly goes to the bar to drink.
- Failed a Spot Check: Joel doesn't register the stranger's clothing on the floor of his apartment or the loud orgasms and talks to Tiffany with his back turned to her, not realizing that she's cheating on Joel right behind him.
- Fake Orgasm: They pull a Bait-and-Switch in this parodic, absurdist romantic comedy. When Joel breaks up with Tiffany for the second time, Tiffany tries to get one back at Joel and tells him that she "always faked it." Joel, naturally, assumes she's talking about her orgasms, but Tiffany, instead, reveals herself to having secretly been Judge Judy wearing a latex mask the entire time. Judge Judy insists the orgasms were, indeed, real.
- Falling-in-Love Montage: After their first night together, a montage shows Joel and Molly doing various couple activities in the city, such as baking together, playing in leaf piles, playing football, or planning Joel's coffee shop. The parodical nature means a few disturbing things are snuck in, like a dead body in the leaf pile or Molly getting an awful hit to the face during the football game. It then shifts into footage of recording session for the very song playing in the background of the montage, complete with Poehler and Rudd (the actors, not the characters) sneaking in and some other celebrity cameos.
- A Family Affair: It's implied that Eggbert's ex-wife slept with his brother Keith.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Joel is a hardworking "corporate drone" who takes care of all the family responsibilities, while his younger brother Jake is a slacker who'd rather pursue his empty dreams of a startup and crash on Joel's couch without paying rent. This leads to a fight midway through the film, where Jake calls out Joel for only caring about money and Joel assures Jake that Joel only gave up his childhood fun to take care of him.
- Foreshadowing: After their first dinner together, Molly sits Joel down to tell him that, if she ever was getting married but decided to run out at the last minute, she'd go to the Brooklyn Promenade so she can look over the city (though Joel's first guess is that she'd go to Boston). Sure enough, Molly almost marries Eggbert but runs out on him, and Joel finds her at the Brooklyn Promenade... but only after he tries to find her in Boston.
- Flexibility Equals Sex Ability: Molly's ex-husband Frank cheated on her with the yoga instructor, and Molly recalls them going "downward dog" on Molly's mat.
- Framing Device: The movie is set up by Joel and Molly telling their friends Karen and Kyle how they met while out at dinner.
- Genre Blindness: The film parodies bad decisions frequently made in romantic comedies.
- In the first act, Joel is so certain that Tiffany is his true love that he somehow doesn't make the connection between Trevor asking if Tiffany is home and him grabbing a condom and leaving as soon as he hears that she is. Joel goes home to propose to Tiffany and somehow doesn't notice the signs even as Tiffany and Trevor are having sex right behind him. This sets up the necessary heartbreak that opens him up to being Molly's love interest.
- After first meeting at the Halloween party, Joel and Molly each acknowledge that the other person is absolutely the type of person they'd want as a partner, but insist they still hate each other despite the obvious hints that they should get together.
- After fighting with Molly, Joel is seduced by his ex Tiffany. She explicitly tells him that she only wants him because she got dumped and feels sorry for himself and he should "be very wary of [her] motives," but he innocently gets back together with her anyway.
- Molly dates Eggbert despite having nothing in common with him and clearly still having feelings for Joel, even agreeing to marry him for some time. Kyle calls out how ridiculous that is and she can only say, "It's just one of those weird ones" and insists they just move on.
- Get Out!: After their climactic fight, Molly tells Joel to take his various ridiculous possessions and get out of her apartment.
- Heel–Face Turn: It only takes a single speech from Joel to turn Roland from a Corrupt Corporate Executive into a supporter of the wholesome independent businesses, supporting Joel even when he quits.
- The Immodest Orgasm: Tiffany moans loudly while she's having sex with Trevor, and somehow Joel still doesn't notice.
- Latex Perfection: Near the end of the film, Tiffany reveals that her face is a latex mask and she's really Judge Judy.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: In the opening scene, Joel and Molly describe the way they met as a "romantic comedy story," leading to them, Kyle, and Karen describing how a movie about Joel and Molly would begin.
- Literal Metaphor:
- Molly says she can't kiss Joel because "[her] Aunt Flo is visiting." Joel assumes she means she's on her period. She clarifies that her Aunt Flo is actually visiting from Florida, and turns around to say hi to said aunt.
- Joel snarks that the stuffy French waiter at the fancy restaurant must have a pole up his ass. The next shot shows that the waiter actually does have a giant pole sticking out of his rear end.
- Meet the In-Laws: After they become a couple, Molly decides to introduce Joel to her parents. First her mom tests Joel by trying to seduce him, but he rejects her, thus passing the "test." However, things go downhill during dinnertime when it turns out Molly's parents are white supremacists.
- Metafictional Device: Bob and Brenda's wordless conversation is subtitled for the audience. Bob sneezes, and the letters of his subtitles fly all over the table.
- Modesty Bedsheet: Parodied in Tiffany's introduction. When she gets out of bed, her bedsheet stays wrapped around her breasts even when she lifts her arms. As a straight version, she later covers herself up with a bedsheet when she's caught cheating with Trevor.
- Named After Somebody Famous: Joel goes by his middle name, with his first name being Billy, making his name "Billy Joel." He never made the connection until Molly pointed it out.
- No Periods, Period: Played with. Molly doesn't kiss Joel at the bookstore because "[her] Aunt Flo is visiting," which Joel assumes means her period, but Molly's talking about an actual aunt visiting her.
- Overcomplicated Menu Order: Molly has extremely specific instructions for ordering a muffin at the coffee shop, saying "I want things the way I want them." One part of her order ends with an instruction for the barista to just throw the food away. Joel somehow manages to remember the entire order, and the shop even has the specific order pre-written on the menu. Ironically, Molly and Joel both get annoyed at people's overcomplicated coffee orders elsewhere in the film.
- Overly Long Gag:
- At the bar, the bartender tells Joel that he looks like crap and hasn't said very much, prompting Joel to say "Tell me about it" or "You can say that again," which creates a cycle where the bartender keeps repeating the line and Joel gives the same response each time until Kyle cuts the scene off.
- One scene with Joel and Jake builds off an established Running Gag where one character stops another before walking out of a room to just tell them "Thanks" or give some other word of encouragement. At the end of their scene, Joel and Jake do this to each other every time the other one takes a step.
- Potty Failure: At the Halloween party, Roland soils himself in the bathroom because he couldn't get off his costume in time.
- Rape as Backstory: It's played for laughs, but Joel is uncomfortable with Halloween because he was assaulted by a group of trick-or-treaters who made him choose between "dick" or "teat."
- Repeat After Me: When Joel goes to the bar after Tiffany dumps him, the bartender points out that he looks like crap and hasn't said very much. Joel says, "You Can Say That Again," leading to an Overly Long Gag where the bartender keeps repeating what he said and Joel keeps saying "You can say that again" or "Tell me about it," prompting more repetition.
- Rejected Marriage Proposal: Joel's proposal to Tiffany doesn't go very well... since he asked her to marry him while she was having sex with his coworker.
- Rhetorical Request Blunder: A variation. When Molly asks what Eggbert's ex-wife wanted from the relationship, Eggbert says, "Guess you'll have to ask my brother," implying his wife cheated on him. After a Beat, Molly asks if said brother is here so she can ask him. Turns out he is, so Molly asks him the same question and gets a straight answer.
- Right Behind Me: Joel badmouths Molly at the Halloween party and claims she'll never find a date with her attitude, only to turn around and see Molly standing behind him, distraught.
- The Rival: Joel's rival is his coworker Trevor, who keeps getting all the promotions and sleeps with Joel's girlfriend Tiffany.
- Runaway Bride: Molly realizes during her wedding with Eggbert that he's not the one for her, and runs out of her own wedding.
- Running Gag: Frequently, a character will start walking out the door after giving some advice, only for another character to call them back and say something simple, usually just "Thanks." This escalates as the film goes on, with some characters doing it multiple times in one scene.
- Saving the Orphanage: Molly's candy shop, Upper Sweet Side NYC, is set up as "impossible not to like." She gives all proceeds to charity and gives free candy to kids. So, naturally, the Corrupt Corporate Executives over at Candy Systems and Research plan to tear it down to make room for their own candy superstore, and it's up to Molly to save her livelihood. Luckily Joel convinces his coworkers to save the candy shop and everything it represents... only for them to go into debt shortly after their wedding anyway.
- Shout-Out:
- Joel jokes "I'll have what she's having" as Molly storms out of the party, referencing the famous scene in When Harry Met Sally.... Confused, Bob notes that Joel is having the same dish that Molly's having.
- Tucker wears Pokémon pajamas, prompting Joel to tell him that his favorite Pokémon is Smeargle, giving an explanation that references various mechanics from the card game.
- Singing in the Shower: In the opening scene, both Joel and Molly sing the same pop song in their showers.
- Skewed Priorities: Joel pays more attention to hissing at his rival Trevor than saving his best friend Bob, who's hanging onto a windowsill for dear life.
- Sure, Let's Go with That: Karen tries to explain to a confused Kyle how an out-of-place scene between Joel and Jake motivated Joel to call Molly, and when she asks Joel if that's accurate, he just says "Yeah, sure, whatever you want" before going back to his story.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: The end of the movie pulls the rug out from under the seemingly happy rom-com ending that Molly and Joel got. Roland's promise to keep Upper Sweet Side flourishing is actually more complicated than it seems, and it didn't make enough of a profit to stay open. Cup of Joel also crashed, since it was a haphazard business idea just tacked onto Molly's. Both of these led to a ton of debt for the couple. And while Spike getting shot by cops is played off as a Funny Background Event, it turns out that Tucker actually saw it and was traumatized. Molly got addicted to pills to numb all the pain and slept with her ex again.
- This Is Reality: Molly insists that, despite her and Joel's story sounding like a corny romance movie, "It's not a movie. It's our real life."
- Title Drop: When Joel and Molly's friends see them arrive at the party, they coo, "They came together!" with Joel and Molly insisting "No, we didn't," since they only just met and hate each other.
- Token Black Friend: Molly's coworker and friend Wanda, one of the only black characters in the film, only really exists to help Molly with her relationship issues.
- Too Much Information:
- Joel's story includes an explicit description of how his rival described sex with Joel's ex-girlfriend, until Karen interrupts him out of discomfort.
- Later, Joel gives graphic details (which the audience gets to see play out) about his sex life with Tiffany after they get back together, despite it making Karen and Molly very uncomfortable (Kyle just commends Joel on his moves).
- Understatement: Molly refers to her parents being white supremacists as them being "a little eccentric."
- Unfortunate Names: Molly's accountant is named Eggbert Flaps, which both Molly and Mr. Flaps note is a pretty lame name. Molly calls him "Eggfart" by accident at one point.
- Wham Line: Near the end of the film, Kyle asks Joel and Molly a question that calls into question the happy resolution we thought we saw:Kyle: It was such a great beginning, why'd you guys decide to get a divorce?
- Wrong-Name Outburst: During a fight with Molly, Joel calls her "Tiffany" by mistake, indicating to Molly that Joel isn't over Tiffany. Then he does it again.
