"FRIENDSHIP" - REVIEW
I LOVE YOU, MAN + A24 x I THINK YOU SHOULD LEAVE is the math that adds up to FRIENDSHIP, an almost-but-not-quite parody of those aforementioned variables. It is a brilliant comedy disguised as a dumb one (and sometimes it is really, really dumb), with an earnest yet sinister yearning for that most precious and often fleeting of middle-aged relationships.
The landscape for big-screen comedies (that is, movies that are pure comedies) has been quite barren over the last decade, and admittedly, how much you personally enjoy FRIENDSHIP will entirely depend upon how much you can tolerate the caustic and demented humor of Tim Robinson. If, like me, you adore him, I have great news: FRIENDSHIP totally has your back.
Once a writer on Saturday Night Live during the Seth Meyers years, Robinson has developed a cult following, first with his Comedy Central series DETROITERS, and especially more recently with three seasons (so far) of his Emmy-winning sketch comedy series I THINK YOU SHOULD LEAVE (both are available on Netflix). His humor is always absurd, always confrontational, and often deeply offputting, if not downright upsetting. And yet, Robinson has a magnetic quality to him, not unlike Danny McBride, in terms of his level of comedic specificity and commitment to being unlikable, boorish, self-serving, arrogant, narcissistic, and never-wrong, and then amplifying it. Although, unlike McBride, Robinson is a more profane Daffy Duck: he possesses a largely benign, almost impotent rage that won’t leave you feeling physically threatened, but will most certainly illuminate the loneliness of his own making.
All of this would be too much to bear if he was not also absolutely hilarious. In Robinson‘s first starring role, there are no depths to which he and writer/director Andrew DeYoung won’t sink to get you to break out laughing (or just break, period).
In FRIENDSHIP, Robinson plays Craig Waterman, whose name and life are as beige as his wardrobe (supplied by Ocean View Dining, “the only clothes that fit just right“). He takes much for granted: his corporate job (getting people addicted to apps on their phones) and his patient cancer-survivor wife Tami (Kate Mara), who runs a home-based floral startup and enjoys a maybe-too-close relationship with their son Steven (Jack Dylan Grazer, IT). He’d be the last to admit that he’s lonely, and it takes a smooth, stylish and slightly ridiculous new neighbor—a local weatherman named Austin (Paul Rudd, in the quasi-Jason Siegel role, with the right mix of cool and insecurity)—to coax Craig out of his recliner and into Austin’s house for a drink. It isn’t long after Craig steps out of his comfort zone that he creates extreme discomfort for Austin and his friends. From a movie storytelling structure standpoint, Austin thinking Craig should leave happens much sooner than you’d think, and there’s still quite a bit of movie left.
FRIENDSHIP has fun exploring male loneliness while playing into and subverting romcom (and eventual stalker) tropes, and DeYoung and his collaborators relish in making the film craft funny as well, from slow zooms to abrupt edits and transitions to curious needle drops (there’s a revival of a Slipknot song I haven’t heard in maybe 20 years that is still making me laugh even as I write this) and a eerie chant score that wouldn’t be out of place in an Ari Aster film. All of these craft decisions help to support what might as well be the inner psyche of a miserable man who can’t seem to leave well enough alone, who doesn’t recognize a good thing when he has it. Great comedy movies are only as strong as their endings, and in that respect, this movie delivers a most gleefully bonkers finale that ties everything up while signifying a twist that looks like growth (even if that growth is probably a cyst).
Of course, comedy is subjective. There’s THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME, the new Wes Anderson comedy coming out in a couple weeks, if that’s more your jam (with meticulously crafted crumpets, I’m sure). This most certainly will not be everyone’s cup of tea (and this is probably more for dudes), but if you get on this movie’s warped wavelength, you will find it’s not only the funniest movie of the year, but one of the funniest movies in many years and, like THE BIG LEBOWSKI or STEP BROTHERS, has all the earmarks of a new cult comedy classic. It’s nuts.
#moviefriend
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#A24
#friendship
#timrobinson
#paulrudd
#andrewdeyoung
#katemara
#jackdylangrazer
Zach is a proud member of the Minnesota Film Critics Association (MNFCA). For more info about Zach, the organization, or to read other great reviews from other great Minnesota-based film critics, click here: https://mnfilmcriticalliance.wordpress.com/