Latest news with #Friendship
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Wendy Ide's pick of other films: Friendship, Four Letters of Love, Gold Songs and Smurfs
Friendship (101 mins, 15) Directed by Andrew DeYoung; starring Tim Robinson, Paul Rudd, Kate Mara The minefield of male friendship has long been a rich source of inspiration for film-makers, to the extent that a whole new term – the bromance – gained currency in the early 00s to describe a certain kind of boys ' club buddy movie. I Love You, Man, starring Paul Rudd and Jason Segel, was the classic example, but there are numerous others. Friendship, the squirm-inducing feature film debut from TV comedy director Andrew DeYoung (Dave, Our Flag Means Death) shares some DNA with the blustering broad comedy of the bromance, but it's a grotesquely deformed mutation of the genre. This is the kind of humour that is as likely to have you chewing your fists to bloody nubs from second-hand embarrassment as it is to generate laughter. Tim Robinson stars as Craig, an unpopular dork with a soul-crushing office job, a wife (Kate Mara) who is drifting into a relationship with another man and a wardrobe consisting of the shade of brown that you find when you unclog the kitchen sink. When Craig meets his new neighbour, local news weatherman Austin ( Rudd), it seems that he might finally have found a friend. Unfortunately, Craig's negligible impulse-control and non existent social skills inevitably make things weird. It's entertaining enough, in a The Cable Guy-meets-The Office, teeth-grindingly uncomfortable way. But Craig is an extreme and unlovely creation. Four Letters of Love (110 mins, 12A) Directed by Polly Steele; starring Pierce Brosnan, Helena Bonham Carter, Gabriel Byrne The country of Ireland is treated to another misrepresentation by a movie industry that seems compelled to filter all depictions through an emerald-green lens and a thick layer of whimsy. This adaptation of Niall Williams's best selling romantic novel features a bingo card full of Irish clich es, including meddlesome ghosts, rebellious convent schoolgirls and a character who plays his penny whistle so vigorously he lapses into a catatonic state. Feisty west coast islander Isabel (Ann Skelly) and forlorn, waxy-looking youth Nicholas (Fionn O'Shea) are destined to be together. But his unreliable, aspiring artist father (Pierce Brosnan) and her meddling mother (Helena Bonham Carter) keep getting in the way. There's also the small problem that Isabel is married to a feckless fellow she met while playing truant from her Catholic school. Fans of wide shots of vintage buses trundling through the most scenically blessed corners of the island may find much to admire, but this is a saccharine and insincere slog. Gold Songs (93 mins) Directed by Ico Costa; starring Domingos Marengula, Neusia Guiamba Love is a luxury for young people in the small, rural town in Mozambique where this slow-burning story starts its journey. And despite the heady attraction between them, Neusia (Neusia Guiamba) and Domingos (Domingos Marengula) find themselves priced out of the market for romance. She's still at school; he toils at a car wash for a boss who regularly fails to pay his workers. Both know that to build a future, they first need a financial foundation. So Domingos leaves, travelling to the north of the country to join his uncle hauling sacks of earth out of the precarious pits that pass for gold mines. The spark between Neusia and Domingos falters as time and distance take their toll. The melancholy and rather lovely second feature from Portuguese director Ico Costa (Alva) , the film's use of non-professional actors blurs the boundaries between fiction and real life – Gold Songs was developed with the participation of local people who shared their stories. The growing gap between the two characters is elegantly captured by the shooting styles of their diverging stories. Domingos, on his fruitless quest for a better life, is in constant motion, with the agitated camera trailing behind him like a stray dog. Back in the village, Neusia finds herself pregnant, her sadness and stillness captured by a subdued and watchful lens. Deep down, they both know that the further they grow apart, the less likely they are to find each other again. Smurfs (92 mins, U) Directed by Chris Miller, Matt Landon; starring Rihanna, James Corden, Nick Offerman Belgium's small, blue and inexplicably popular cultural gift to the world gets a reboot in this revamped Hollywood animation directed by Chris Miller (Puss in Boots). Smurfs has an all-new voice cast (Rihanna takes over the role of Smurfette from previous incumbents Demi Lovato and Katy Perry) and a tone that veers between knowing irony and wigged-out surrealism. But the excitable colour palette, roster of familiar evil-doers and rigidly enforced nominative determinism remains unchanged. This provides a premise: while Clumsy Smurf, Brainy Smurf, Hefty Smurf and the others have a unique defining characteristic, No Name Smurf (James Corden) has yet to find his 'thing'. A wish tacked on to an underwhelming musical number imbues him with magical powers, but no sooner has No Name learned to shoot fireworks from his fingers than he inadvertently summons the forces of evil in the form of malevolent wizard Razamel (JP Karliak). The picture borrows unashamedly and blatantly from Inside Out and the Spiderverse films, and the dimension-hopping plot line is tiresome. But the summer holidays are almost upon us and needs must, I suppose. Photographs by A24; Vertigo
Irish Times
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Friendship review: This twisted buddy-buddy movie is funny but not much fun
Friendship Director : Andrew DeYoung Cert : 15A Starring : Tim Robinson, Paul Rudd, Kate Mara, Jack Dylan Grazer, Rick Worthy, Whitmer Thomas, Daniel London, Eric Rahill Running Time : 1 hr 41 mins Tim Robinson, star of the cult sketch show I Think You Should Leave, moves satisfactorily into cinema with a comedy that sits just outside the buddy-buddy mainstream. How do we thus place it on the map? Well, it begins with Tami and Craig (Robinson and Kate Mara), a suburban couple, at a counselling session where she addresses her recovery from cancer and expresses her difficulty in achieving orgasm. Andrew DeYoung, in his debut as writer and director, is plainly skirting the realm of indie alienation. There is a suppressed fury in Robinson's performance – a whisper of bitter loneliness – that passes unexpected levels of stress on to the poor viewer. It's funny, but it's never exactly fun. The story properly kicks off when Craig, who is trying to sell his house, returns a wrongly delivered package to a new neighbour up the street. This turns out to be Austin, a handsome TV weatherman in the form of the ageless Paul Rudd. The two get chatting and end up forming an initially successful friendship. DeYoung's screenplay can't quite decide what we are to make of Austin. On their first night of boozing, he takes his neighbour on an illicit tour of an underground aqueduct that eventually leads them into the city hall. He plays in a punk band. The notion appears to be that he's an offbeat guy locked in a straightedge job. Yet the more the film goes on – and the more Craig takes on the persona of stalker – the less out-there Austin appears. Are we initially seeing the man that our anti-hero thought his neighbour to be? READ MORE At any rate, though loose in structure, Friendship offers a few minor masterpieces in the art of cringe. Robinson, like Adam Sandler in Paul Thomas Anderson's Punch-Drunk Love, gives some impression of how the classic saddo of broad comedy – the Jerry Lewis, the Norman Wisdom – might appear in something like the real world: scary, demented, potentially threatening. His wide, gap-toothed grin is that of the killer clown. His tight face seems always on the point of bursting open in a mess of bloody tendons. We (if we are men) are invited to laugh at him while worrying that we're laughing at the worst, most pathetic aspects of our own personalities. Not a cheery sort of hilarity. In cinemas from July 18th
Irish Examiner
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Film reviews: Harvest is a starkly-shot eulogy for an old world
The sheaves are being brought in as Harvest (18s) opens, and the villagers of a tiny medieval commune nestled in 'fields far from anywhere' are preparing to celebrate. But just as the feasting commences, Master Kent (Harry Melling) unveils his big idea: That instead of simply subsisting from year to year, the villagers should abandon agriculture and focus their combined efforts on rearing sheep and providing woollen garments for the well-to-do in the distant cities. Walter (Caleb Landry Jones) hears in the suggestion the death knell for his community and their way of life; and when the landowner Master Jordan (Frank Dillane) arrives to enforce the new dispensation with a handful of paid thugs in tow, the scene is set for a culture clash that erupts into vicious violence. Adapted from Jim Crace's novel, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2013, and directed by Athina Rachel Tsangari, Harvest is a fever-dream interpretation of the collision between incipient capitalism and the agrarian culture that has served the villagers for countless generations. Walter's is a tough life of hand-to-mouth existence and self-regulating justice — a pair of interlopers, accused of burning Master Kent's barn, are summarily consigned to a week in the stocks on the master's orders — but Master Jordan's alternative will render all but a handful of villagers homeless and doomed to starve. It's a stark choice, and Tsangari doesn't pretend that the villagers' lives are idyllic: Shot in relentlessly muted colours by cinematographer Sean Price Williams, the village is a grimly muddy, weed-ridden shambles, their behaviour crude and brutal. Caleb Landry Jones is terrific as Walter, his voiceover monologues delivering a primitive poetry eulogising the natural world, and he gets excellent support from Harry Melling as the well-intentioned but morally weak Master Kent, and Frank Dillane as the creepily oleaginous villain Master Jordan. Friendship. Friendship ★★★☆☆ Cinema release Friendship (15A) stars Tim Robinson as Craig, a socially awkward app developer who strikes up a rapport with his new neighbour Austin (Paul Rudd), a weather reporter on local TV. Introduced to Austin's friends, Craig suddenly finds himself part of a buddy network for the first time — until he oversteps the mark at a party and finds himself excluded. Can the emotionally vulnerable Craig winkle his way back into Austin's good books? Written and directed by Andrew DeYoung, Friendship is either a masterpiece of narrative dissonance or a poorly scripted vehicle for Robinson's comedy schtick. The tone veers back and forth from the cringe comedy of Craig's inappropriate behaviour into something a little darker, as the painfully self-aware Craig, who seems to be operating without any kind of social filter, makes Herculean efforts to behave according to societal norms. It's funny, certainly, and particularly when it comes to Craig's blurted non sequiturs (Robinson's comic timing is to die for); but there's also an uncomfortable sense that we are supposed to be laughing at Craig's inability to connect, rather than at those who ridicule his behaviour. Four Letters of Love Four Letters of Love ★★☆☆☆ Cinema release Set in Ireland in the 1970s, and adapted by Niall Williams from his own novel, Four Letters of Love (12A) stars Fionn O'Shea as Nicholas and Ann Skelly as Isabel, star-crossed teenage lovers who are destined to meet and embark on a life-long romance. Chance encounters and divine intervention play their part in bringing together and/or thwarting the young couple; also aiding and abetting are Nicholas's artist father William (Pierce Brosnan) and Isabel's poet father Muiris (Gabriel Byrne), who are married to Bette (Imelda May), and Margaret (Helena Bonham Carter), respectively. Director Polly Steele employs a narrative framing device that involves the older Nicholas, now a writer, telling the story of Nicholas and Isabel — which accounts for the characters' excessively florid dialogue; the script itself is a mish-mash of Oirish clichés that wastes a very fine cast.
RTÉ News
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd's Friendship is a laugh-out-loud comedy masterclass
Forming new friendships as a middle-aged man is notoriously difficult, even when the men in question have a lot in common. In Friendship, we have two very different budding buddies. Craig (Tim Robinson) is a loudmouth, socially inept, and infuriatingly unaware of the fact that he's not witty, smart, or remotely pleasant to be around. Somehow, he is both dull and wildly unpredictable in his behaviour. Craig's wife, Tami (Kate Mara), is the picture of elegance. She is in post-cancer recovery and clearly considering rekindling a relationship with an old flame. Craig is completely oblivious to this. Tami persuades a reluctant Craig to hang out with their new neighbour, Austin (Paul Rudd). On the surface, Austin is the polar opposite of Craig - suave, charming, philosophical, and cool. Austin is a weatherman frontman of a band, making him a well-liked local celebrity. The two at first seem to bond, with Austin appearing indifferent to Craig's awkward and asinine remarks. Craig quickly becomes infatuated with Austin and his laid-back energy. Adoration sets in. However, after an uncomfortable night with Austin's friend group, Craig is devastated to be essentially "dumped" by Austin. Needless to say, Craig takes this in the worst possible way and refuses to let his cool new friend cut ties so easily. Fans of Tim Robinson's I Think You Should Leave will be happy to see familiar elements to Craig's character that overlap with characters in the Netflix sketch show - stubborn, socially clueless people who always say and do the wrong thing. That said, this is far from I Think You Should Leave: The Movie. Friendship exists in a much more grounded American indie-comedy world. Writer and director Andrew DeYoung has created the perfect vehicle for the comic skills Robinson has honed, one where he gets to explore the reality of his go-to I Think You Should Leave character archetype in a more naturalistic setting. This gives us the opportunity to see those skills stretch and evolve in ways a seven-minute sketch could never allow for. Robinson's unhinged energy works well with the effortless charm of Paul Rudd, whose character slowly moves from the most relaxed man in town to an anxious victim of his friend-turned-stalker. It's a formula that works. You could argue that the female characters do feel a little underwritten, Austin's wife is barely seen, and we never really learn why Tami is with Craig in the first place. Perhaps that's intentional; the film is largely told from Craig's point of view, and he is clearly oblivious to his wife's feelings or motivations and barely acknowledges Austin's marriage exists. With countless comic moments that land hard, Friendship isn't just the best comedy in cinemas this year, it's one of the funniest films of the decade. Some of the biggest comedic moments blindside the audience. A scene involving a "psychedelic trip" sets up what you think is going to be a tired comedy trope, only to deliver the film's best punchline. It's unpredictable without verging on the ridiculous. A hilarious character study of delusion, inadequacy, and neediness, painfully real and hugely entertaining. Hopefully, it marks the return of comedy to cinema screens.
The Advertiser
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Advertiser
Man, friendship has its challenges - just ask adult blokes
Friendship (M, 100 minutes) 4 stars It's not breaking news to say men don't always do friendship very well. I've heard it said that while female friendship is largely face to face - communicating - male friendship tends to be side by side - doing an activity together. Emotional vulnerability is not necessarily what men are good at, but sometimes they're not even very adroit at the basic social rituals and dynamics of maleness. This is a film about something that will be painfully familiar to many men. Making new friends can be hard, especially as you get older, and closeness is even harder. If you're not a natural joiner or someone who's gregarious and prepossessing, it's tough to break into established friendship groups or ingratiate yourself with individuals, isn't it? Asking for a friend. Many scenes from this dark comedy feel like they could have been skits in Netflix's I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson. There's the same blend of cringiness and deft exaggeration seen in that show's best bits, and its eponymous star and co-creator plays the lead role here. He was an obvious choice, but he's not the movie's primary creative force. Friendship is the feature film debut of writer-director Andrew DeYoung, who's worked extensively in TV. And very impressive it is too, a comedy that's not entirely predictable and that has something to say. Craig (Robinson) is a suburban husband and father whose life isn't going too well. His marriage to cancer survivor Tami (Kate Mara) is shaky - he's emotionally distant and clumsy, not even terribly supportive of the flower business she runs from home. And things aren't great with his teenage son Steven (Jack Dylan Glazer) either: mother and son have a close bond that eludes him. Craig is not evil, just clueless and a bit insensitive, a square peg in life's round hole. It's not surprising his wife is reconnecting with her ex (as friends, she says) and also not surprising that Craig feels threatened by this but doesn't know how to deal with it. The arrival of a new neighbour seems it will be just the thing to reinvigorate Craig and his connection to life. Austin (Paul Rudd) is a local celebrity, a popular TV weatherman who's very personable. He and Craig quickly hit it off and do things. Austin takes Craig exploring in the town's aqueduct, Craig goes to see Austin's punk rock band perform. This new friendship even helps Craig forge better relationships with his wife and son. It seems too good to be true, and, of course, it is. Craig is maladroit and so desperate he acts inappropriately. He crashes Austin's studio during a broadcast and, invited to a guys' night with Austin and his friends, he injures his host. What he does to try to atone for it is bizarre and offputting. Exasperated, Austin tells him bluntly that the friendship is over. Being ostracised really stings and seeing Austin and his friends - who manage to be both blokey and sensitive - hanging out only gnaws at Craig more. His actions become increasingly obsessive and unhinged. The script contrives ways to bring the men together in the latter stages that occasionally jar but it's easy to just go with things. This is a comedy, but its serious undercurrent and measured tone and pace - this isn't a manic gagfest - might take getting used to, as might the unusual choice of ecclesiastical music on the soundtrack alongside tribal chants and pop songs. But it's the product of a distinctive talent behind the camera working with an excellent cast. DeYoung doesn't make the mistake of making Craig a monster or Austin a saint. Even when Craig is self-sabotaging and behaving badly, you can feel for him: a lot of it is borne of loneliness and desperation and not knowing how to fit in. Mara and Glazer don't get many comic opportunities but play off Robinson well. Although Austin is played by the likeable Rudd, there's something just a tiny bit offputting about him: if Craig is one of life's losers, Austin is a slick winner with a charmed life: even when the two are arrested for trespassing, the cops ask the weatherman for selfies. Austin has one vulnerability that Craig discovers: what will he do with it? Side note, it's interesting how many of the (male) characters casually smoke cigarettes, going against the trend in recent decades both on screen and off. It will be interesting to see what comes next from DeYoung. Friendship (M, 100 minutes) 4 stars It's not breaking news to say men don't always do friendship very well. I've heard it said that while female friendship is largely face to face - communicating - male friendship tends to be side by side - doing an activity together. Emotional vulnerability is not necessarily what men are good at, but sometimes they're not even very adroit at the basic social rituals and dynamics of maleness. This is a film about something that will be painfully familiar to many men. Making new friends can be hard, especially as you get older, and closeness is even harder. If you're not a natural joiner or someone who's gregarious and prepossessing, it's tough to break into established friendship groups or ingratiate yourself with individuals, isn't it? Asking for a friend. Many scenes from this dark comedy feel like they could have been skits in Netflix's I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson. There's the same blend of cringiness and deft exaggeration seen in that show's best bits, and its eponymous star and co-creator plays the lead role here. He was an obvious choice, but he's not the movie's primary creative force. Friendship is the feature film debut of writer-director Andrew DeYoung, who's worked extensively in TV. And very impressive it is too, a comedy that's not entirely predictable and that has something to say. Craig (Robinson) is a suburban husband and father whose life isn't going too well. His marriage to cancer survivor Tami (Kate Mara) is shaky - he's emotionally distant and clumsy, not even terribly supportive of the flower business she runs from home. And things aren't great with his teenage son Steven (Jack Dylan Glazer) either: mother and son have a close bond that eludes him. Craig is not evil, just clueless and a bit insensitive, a square peg in life's round hole. It's not surprising his wife is reconnecting with her ex (as friends, she says) and also not surprising that Craig feels threatened by this but doesn't know how to deal with it. The arrival of a new neighbour seems it will be just the thing to reinvigorate Craig and his connection to life. Austin (Paul Rudd) is a local celebrity, a popular TV weatherman who's very personable. He and Craig quickly hit it off and do things. Austin takes Craig exploring in the town's aqueduct, Craig goes to see Austin's punk rock band perform. This new friendship even helps Craig forge better relationships with his wife and son. It seems too good to be true, and, of course, it is. Craig is maladroit and so desperate he acts inappropriately. He crashes Austin's studio during a broadcast and, invited to a guys' night with Austin and his friends, he injures his host. What he does to try to atone for it is bizarre and offputting. Exasperated, Austin tells him bluntly that the friendship is over. Being ostracised really stings and seeing Austin and his friends - who manage to be both blokey and sensitive - hanging out only gnaws at Craig more. His actions become increasingly obsessive and unhinged. The script contrives ways to bring the men together in the latter stages that occasionally jar but it's easy to just go with things. This is a comedy, but its serious undercurrent and measured tone and pace - this isn't a manic gagfest - might take getting used to, as might the unusual choice of ecclesiastical music on the soundtrack alongside tribal chants and pop songs. But it's the product of a distinctive talent behind the camera working with an excellent cast. DeYoung doesn't make the mistake of making Craig a monster or Austin a saint. Even when Craig is self-sabotaging and behaving badly, you can feel for him: a lot of it is borne of loneliness and desperation and not knowing how to fit in. Mara and Glazer don't get many comic opportunities but play off Robinson well. Although Austin is played by the likeable Rudd, there's something just a tiny bit offputting about him: if Craig is one of life's losers, Austin is a slick winner with a charmed life: even when the two are arrested for trespassing, the cops ask the weatherman for selfies. Austin has one vulnerability that Craig discovers: what will he do with it? Side note, it's interesting how many of the (male) characters casually smoke cigarettes, going against the trend in recent decades both on screen and off. It will be interesting to see what comes next from DeYoung. Friendship (M, 100 minutes) 4 stars It's not breaking news to say men don't always do friendship very well. I've heard it said that while female friendship is largely face to face - communicating - male friendship tends to be side by side - doing an activity together. Emotional vulnerability is not necessarily what men are good at, but sometimes they're not even very adroit at the basic social rituals and dynamics of maleness. This is a film about something that will be painfully familiar to many men. Making new friends can be hard, especially as you get older, and closeness is even harder. If you're not a natural joiner or someone who's gregarious and prepossessing, it's tough to break into established friendship groups or ingratiate yourself with individuals, isn't it? Asking for a friend. Many scenes from this dark comedy feel like they could have been skits in Netflix's I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson. There's the same blend of cringiness and deft exaggeration seen in that show's best bits, and its eponymous star and co-creator plays the lead role here. He was an obvious choice, but he's not the movie's primary creative force. Friendship is the feature film debut of writer-director Andrew DeYoung, who's worked extensively in TV. And very impressive it is too, a comedy that's not entirely predictable and that has something to say. Craig (Robinson) is a suburban husband and father whose life isn't going too well. His marriage to cancer survivor Tami (Kate Mara) is shaky - he's emotionally distant and clumsy, not even terribly supportive of the flower business she runs from home. And things aren't great with his teenage son Steven (Jack Dylan Glazer) either: mother and son have a close bond that eludes him. Craig is not evil, just clueless and a bit insensitive, a square peg in life's round hole. It's not surprising his wife is reconnecting with her ex (as friends, she says) and also not surprising that Craig feels threatened by this but doesn't know how to deal with it. The arrival of a new neighbour seems it will be just the thing to reinvigorate Craig and his connection to life. Austin (Paul Rudd) is a local celebrity, a popular TV weatherman who's very personable. He and Craig quickly hit it off and do things. Austin takes Craig exploring in the town's aqueduct, Craig goes to see Austin's punk rock band perform. This new friendship even helps Craig forge better relationships with his wife and son. It seems too good to be true, and, of course, it is. Craig is maladroit and so desperate he acts inappropriately. He crashes Austin's studio during a broadcast and, invited to a guys' night with Austin and his friends, he injures his host. What he does to try to atone for it is bizarre and offputting. Exasperated, Austin tells him bluntly that the friendship is over. Being ostracised really stings and seeing Austin and his friends - who manage to be both blokey and sensitive - hanging out only gnaws at Craig more. His actions become increasingly obsessive and unhinged. The script contrives ways to bring the men together in the latter stages that occasionally jar but it's easy to just go with things. This is a comedy, but its serious undercurrent and measured tone and pace - this isn't a manic gagfest - might take getting used to, as might the unusual choice of ecclesiastical music on the soundtrack alongside tribal chants and pop songs. But it's the product of a distinctive talent behind the camera working with an excellent cast. DeYoung doesn't make the mistake of making Craig a monster or Austin a saint. Even when Craig is self-sabotaging and behaving badly, you can feel for him: a lot of it is borne of loneliness and desperation and not knowing how to fit in. Mara and Glazer don't get many comic opportunities but play off Robinson well. Although Austin is played by the likeable Rudd, there's something just a tiny bit offputting about him: if Craig is one of life's losers, Austin is a slick winner with a charmed life: even when the two are arrested for trespassing, the cops ask the weatherman for selfies. Austin has one vulnerability that Craig discovers: what will he do with it? Side note, it's interesting how many of the (male) characters casually smoke cigarettes, going against the trend in recent decades both on screen and off. It will be interesting to see what comes next from DeYoung. Friendship (M, 100 minutes) 4 stars It's not breaking news to say men don't always do friendship very well. I've heard it said that while female friendship is largely face to face - communicating - male friendship tends to be side by side - doing an activity together. Emotional vulnerability is not necessarily what men are good at, but sometimes they're not even very adroit at the basic social rituals and dynamics of maleness. This is a film about something that will be painfully familiar to many men. Making new friends can be hard, especially as you get older, and closeness is even harder. If you're not a natural joiner or someone who's gregarious and prepossessing, it's tough to break into established friendship groups or ingratiate yourself with individuals, isn't it? Asking for a friend. Many scenes from this dark comedy feel like they could have been skits in Netflix's I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson. There's the same blend of cringiness and deft exaggeration seen in that show's best bits, and its eponymous star and co-creator plays the lead role here. He was an obvious choice, but he's not the movie's primary creative force. Friendship is the feature film debut of writer-director Andrew DeYoung, who's worked extensively in TV. And very impressive it is too, a comedy that's not entirely predictable and that has something to say. Craig (Robinson) is a suburban husband and father whose life isn't going too well. His marriage to cancer survivor Tami (Kate Mara) is shaky - he's emotionally distant and clumsy, not even terribly supportive of the flower business she runs from home. And things aren't great with his teenage son Steven (Jack Dylan Glazer) either: mother and son have a close bond that eludes him. Craig is not evil, just clueless and a bit insensitive, a square peg in life's round hole. It's not surprising his wife is reconnecting with her ex (as friends, she says) and also not surprising that Craig feels threatened by this but doesn't know how to deal with it. The arrival of a new neighbour seems it will be just the thing to reinvigorate Craig and his connection to life. Austin (Paul Rudd) is a local celebrity, a popular TV weatherman who's very personable. He and Craig quickly hit it off and do things. Austin takes Craig exploring in the town's aqueduct, Craig goes to see Austin's punk rock band perform. This new friendship even helps Craig forge better relationships with his wife and son. It seems too good to be true, and, of course, it is. Craig is maladroit and so desperate he acts inappropriately. He crashes Austin's studio during a broadcast and, invited to a guys' night with Austin and his friends, he injures his host. What he does to try to atone for it is bizarre and offputting. Exasperated, Austin tells him bluntly that the friendship is over. Being ostracised really stings and seeing Austin and his friends - who manage to be both blokey and sensitive - hanging out only gnaws at Craig more. His actions become increasingly obsessive and unhinged. The script contrives ways to bring the men together in the latter stages that occasionally jar but it's easy to just go with things. This is a comedy, but its serious undercurrent and measured tone and pace - this isn't a manic gagfest - might take getting used to, as might the unusual choice of ecclesiastical music on the soundtrack alongside tribal chants and pop songs. But it's the product of a distinctive talent behind the camera working with an excellent cast. DeYoung doesn't make the mistake of making Craig a monster or Austin a saint. Even when Craig is self-sabotaging and behaving badly, you can feel for him: a lot of it is borne of loneliness and desperation and not knowing how to fit in. Mara and Glazer don't get many comic opportunities but play off Robinson well. Although Austin is played by the likeable Rudd, there's something just a tiny bit offputting about him: if Craig is one of life's losers, Austin is a slick winner with a charmed life: even when the two are arrested for trespassing, the cops ask the weatherman for selfies. Austin has one vulnerability that Craig discovers: what will he do with it? Side note, it's interesting how many of the (male) characters casually smoke cigarettes, going against the trend in recent decades both on screen and off. It will be interesting to see what comes next from DeYoung.
