Friendship – Review

Cert – 15, Run-time – 1 hour 41 minutes, Director – Andrew DeYoung

Marketing exec Craig (Tim Robinson) finds himself socially distanced from his colleagues and family, the arrival of suave neighbour Austin (Paul Rudd) brings a turbulent and increasingly desperate spark into his life.

With a simple bar of soap Friendship creates one of the most excruciating moments I’ll see in a film all year. With the push of Tim Robinson in the lead role, which was apparently written especially for him by writer-director Andrew DeYoung, bringing some of his I Think You Should Leave energy there’s a good deal of pure awkward cringe humour throughout the film as we see a man desperately trying to maintain a friendship which may not have ever started.

In an almost reverse Banshees Of Inisherin, marketing executive Craig (Robinson) appears to be at a distance from his colleagues and his wife, Tami (Kate Mara), and teenage son (Jack Dylan Glazer). The trio are looking to move house for a new start after Tami has been cancer-free for a few months, however when suave new neighbour Austin (Paul Rudd) moves in up the street Craig sees this as the potential spark that he’s looking for. The two appear to develop a bond when Craig is taken in by the TV weatherman’s almost carefree attitude to the rules and explorative nature – travelling through the sewers to find a space underneath City Hall – however after a sparring session with some of Craig’s friends goes wrong Craig finds himself quickly cast out and trying to make amends, only to make things worse not just with Austin but everyone.

The awkwardness hangs thick in the air on many occasions and with that how you’ll respond to Friendship is largely down to your tolerance of high-level cringe humour. For myself, I generally like the style but found it to run out of steam about halfway through. There are still good moments and a good few chuckles, another make or break for the film will likely be how those around you, if anyone, respond to it – I watched this in a very quietly attended screening with a scattered response.

As plot developments focus more on the downbeat situations that Craig finds himself in as his desperation to make amends and hold onto relationships pushes everyone away one or two developments don’t quite click as much. One particularly scene involving a drug trip in a Subway is certainly amusing but doesn’t quite feel as if it slots in with the surroundings. Certainly the second half of the film feels slightly more uneven as the build up, albeit taking things in unexpected directions and tones to what the trailers may have suggested.

The cast each put in good efforts with Robinson being a particular force with a performance that probably won’t get the levels of praise that it deserves simply for the comedy surroundings of the film. Yet, he’s where much of the cringe effect comes from on most occasions, especially in the aforementioned most excruciating moment – an instance which feels more and more drawn out with each new sentence that’s layered on as the group being ‘performed’ to look on in horror, shock and concern yet still holding an air of not knowing how to respond at all to what they’re being presented with.

Yet, Craig never feels like a wholly unlikable character. He certainly has a good deal of insecurity and self-doubt, especially in the wake of Tami’s relationship with ex-boyfriend fireman Devon (Josh Segarra). Yet, as he appears to drive his own relationships into the ground with a feeling of not knowing how to respond in certain situations, as if preventing awkwardness with his own inadvertent awkwardness, you can almost see him trying to do the best he can – at least largely in the first half before he appears to go too far. He’s constantly in search of that hope and spark to be the cool guy that people like, want to have a conversation and laugh with.

As that style takes a turn for isolation rather than loneliness in the second half things start to feel stretched out as the central figure starts to find himself at a loss of how to fix things. Leaving the film to slightly wonder what to do as well. It leads to a slower feeling to these events that while still holding some chuckles causes the run-time to feel somewhere pushed. Yet, there’s still some effective moments and a successful finale that helps to wrap things up without Friendship having to struggle as much as Robinson’s character does to maintain things.

While things might slow down in the second half, there are still a good deal of laughs, and effective cringe humour led by Tim Robinson’s great central performance, to see Friendship through until the end, although its truly excruciating scenes may prove too much for some.