You know that feeling when you're watching a romantic comedy and the main character says something so cliché you want to put your head through the drywall? David Wain and Michael Showalter definitely do. In fact, they built an entire universe out of those eye-roll moments. They Came Together isn't just a movie; it’s a relentless, 83-minute assault on every trope Hollywood has ever forced down our throats.
It's weird. It’s loud. It’s frequently nonsensical.
If you haven't seen it, the plot is basically every Meg Ryan movie ever made, but played by Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler as if they're aliens trying to imitate human emotions based on a 1990s DVD collection. Paul Rudd plays Joel, a corporate stooge for a massive candy conglomerate. Amy Poehler is Molly, the owner of a whimsical, independent candy shop called "Upper Left Side." They meet. They hate each other. They fall in love. But the way it happens is so aggressively stupid that it becomes brilliant.
Why They Came Together Still Works Years Later
The genius of this film lies in its refusal to blink. Most parodies, like Scary Movie or Not Another Teen Movie, rely on pop culture references that expire in six months. They Came Together is different because it targets the structure of storytelling. It mocks the "meet-cute." It mocks the "clumsy leading lady" who can’t walk five feet without tripping over a trash can.
Remember the scene where they’re at dinner and they keep saying, "You can say that again"? They literally say it about twenty times. It's uncomfortable. Then it's funny. Then it's annoying. Then, somehow, it becomes the funniest thing you’ve ever seen. That is the David Wain specialty. He pushes a joke past the point of sanity until the audience breaks.
Honestly, the chemistry between Rudd and Poehler is what saves it from being just a series of sketches. They play the material completely straight. When Poehler wears a costume made of actual trash because she’s "quirky," she isn't winking at the camera. She’s playing it like it’s Schindler’s List. That commitment is why the film has developed such a massive cult following since its 2014 release.
The "New York as a Character" Trope
If I hear one more person say that "New York City is like a character in this movie," I’m going to lose it.
The film knows this. It mocks the pretentious way directors talk about settings. Throughout the movie, characters stop what they're doing to comment on how NYC is essentially a living, breathing person. It’s a direct shot at films like Manhattan or You’ve Got Mail.
But here’s the thing: they actually shot a lot of it on location, making the parody feel grounded. You see the brownstones, the autumn leaves, and the coffee shops, but it’s all filtered through a lens of extreme sarcasm. It reminds me of how The Onion writes articles—using the exact visual and linguistic language of the thing they are mocking to dismantle it from the inside out.
A Cast That Had No Business Being This Good
Look at the call sheet for this movie. It’s insane.
- Bill Hader and Ellie Kemper as the friends listening to the story.
- Michael Ian Black as the villainous corporate rival.
- Christopher Meloni in a tuxedo, doing something involving a prop that I can't even describe in a "family-friendly" way without it sounding bizarre.
- Cobie Smulders, Ed Helms, Kenan Thompson, and Jack McBrayer.
Most of these people were at the peak of their careers or heading there. Why were they in a low-budget, absurdist indie flick? Because David Wain and Michael Showalter are comedy royalty. After Wet Hot American Summer, actors knew that if these two called, you showed up to do something weird.
Take Max Greenfield’s role. He plays the "bad boy" brother, and his entire performance is just him acting like a generic rebel from a 1950s greaser movie, despite being in modern-day Brooklyn. It doesn't make sense. It doesn't have to. The movie operates on "dream logic," where the rules of reality shift just to accommodate a joke about how dumb rom-coms are.
The Screenplay Mechanics of Michael Showalter and David Wain
Let's talk about the writing. Showalter and Wain wrote this script years before it actually got made. You can feel that "stewed" quality in the dialogue. Every line is a double entendre or a direct cliché.
When Joel and Molly discover they both like "fiction books," it’s a perfect satire of how movies try to give characters "relatable" hobbies that are actually incredibly broad and meaningless. "You like fiction? I like fiction!" It’s a masterclass in writing bad dialogue on purpose. That is surprisingly hard to do. If you write bad dialogue accidentally, the audience leaves. If you write it with surgical precision, you get a cult classic.
Common Misconceptions About the Film
A lot of people hated this movie when it first came out.
The Rotten Tomatoes score was hovering in a weird place for a long time. Why? Because some people thought it was actually trying to be a romantic comedy and failing. They didn't get the "meta" layer. They thought the jokes were lazy.
But the jokes aren't lazy; they are exhausting.
Another misconception is that it's just a parody of You've Got Mail. While that's the primary skeleton, it's pulling from When Harry Met Sally, Friends with Benefits, and even the Hallmark Channel’s entire business model. It’s a wide-reaching critique of how we consume love stories. It’s cynical, sure, but it’s a "joyful" cynicism. You can tell the creators actually love these movies, which is why they know exactly where to twist the knife.
Why It Didn't Blow Up at the Box Office
Money isn't everything.
They Came Together was never meant to be a Marvel-sized hit. It’s an "alt-comedy" staple. In 2014, the movie landscape was shifting toward streaming, and this film found its life on platforms like Netflix and later on VOD. It’s the kind of movie you show your friends to see if they have the same sense of humor as you. If they don't laugh when Paul Rudd says "Thanks, I've been working out," while clearly not working out, then you probably shouldn't be friends with them. Just kidding. Sorta.
Comparing Satire: They Came Together vs. Airplane!
People often compare it to Airplane!, but there’s a key difference. Airplane! relies heavily on visual gags and puns. They Came Together relies on the audience’s exhaustion with storytelling tropes.
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It requires you to have seen enough mediocre movies to understand why a specific camera angle or a specific musical cue is funny. It’s a more intellectual form of slapstick. It’s "meta-slapstick." When Christopher Meloni’s character has a "costume mishap" at a corporate event, it’s funny because of the physical comedy, but it’s hilarious because it’s a trope about the "big disaster" that happens right before the third act.
The Legacy of the "Upper Left Side"
In the years since the film's release, the "indie shop vs. corporate giant" trope has almost vanished from cinema, partly because They Came Together killed it. It’s hard to make a serious movie about a small bookstore or candy shop being threatened by a big corporation without people thinking of Amy Poehler’s "Molly" and her irrational hatred of big business.
The film serves as a time capsule for a specific era of New York-centric filmmaking. It captures the aesthetic of the "gentrified Brooklyn" era perfectly, while poking fun at the people who inhabit it.
Actionable Insights for Movie Lovers
If you're looking to dive into this world or better understand why this movie matters, here is what you should do:
1. Watch the "Source Material" First
To truly appreciate the jokes, revisit You've Got Mail and When Harry Met Sally. Notice the lighting, the music, and how the "best friend" characters always seem to have no lives of their own. Then, immediately put on They Came Together. The contrast is jarring and brilliant.
2. Look for the Background Gags
David Wain loves filling the frame. Check out the items in Molly’s shop. Look at the books on the shelves. There are jokes hidden in the production design that you won't catch on the first watch.
3. Follow the "The State" Connection
If you like this humor, look up the comedy troupe "The State." Most of the cast and the director came from this 90s MTV show. It explains the rhythmic, almost musical quality of the jokes.
4. Study the Structure
If you are an aspiring writer, look at how the movie uses a "frame story" (Joel and Molly telling the story to their friends at dinner). It’s a classic trope used to explain away plot holes, and this movie uses it to create even more plot holes for comedic effect.
5. Embrace the Absurd
Stop trying to make the movie make sense. When a character suddenly starts acting like a different person or the timeline shifts for no reason, just go with it. The film is a protest against "logic" in movies that are supposed to be about "magic."
The reality is that They Came Together is a polarizing piece of art. You either think it's the smartest thing ever made or a giant waste of time. There is no middle ground. And honestly? That’s exactly how great comedy should be. It’s not trying to please everyone. It’s trying to destroy a genre, one "you can say that again" at a time.
For anyone tired of the same old formulaic stories, this film is the perfect antidote. It’s a reminder that movies don't have to be "important" to be meaningful. Sometimes, they just need to point out how ridiculous we are for crying at a scene where two people run through the rain to profess their love. Because, let’s be real, in New York, that rain is probably mostly pollution anyway.
Next time you’re scrolling through a streaming service and see Paul Rudd’s face on that poster, don't expect a standard rom-com. Expect a fever dream. Expect to be confused. But most of all, expect to never look at a "fiction book" the same way again.