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The importance of healthy human interactions is something psychologists have been advocating for decades. So when it comes to male friendships, is it any wonder that Hollywood invented an entire genre of film devoted exclusively to it? Whether it's a story about feuding next-door neighbors, a pair of detectives out to solve a murder conspiracy, or a group of teens trying to end their high school careers with a bang, bromance comedies have provided moviegoers with countless laughs, all at the expense of the male platonic bond. But what happens if a bromance goes unrequited? That's the question writer-director Andrew DeYoung sets out to answer with his feature debut, Friendship. Craig Waterman (Tim Robinson) is just your average, awkward, middle-aged guy. A program manager at an advertising firm called Universal Digital Innovations, husband to work-from-home florist Tami (Kate Mara), and lackluster father to 16-year-old Stevie (Jack Dylan Grazer), he spends his weekdays eating lunch alone in his office and his weeknights watching television at home. When he's not trying to avoid spoilers for the latest Marvel movie, however, he's secretly pining for a more exciting life; and when that life appears to be within grasp after meeting his new neighbor, TV weatherman Austin Carmichael (Paul Rudd), Craig will do anything to try and hang onto it. The epitome of everything Craig finds cool and interesting, Austin is the BFF he always dreamed of having. But when Craig inevitably botches his chance at them becoming best buds, it sets into motion a chain of hilarious events that will see Craig committing one cringe-worthy foible after another — from making verbal threats against the mayor to losing his wife in the sewers — all in an attempt to woo the bro who got away. Playing like a feature-length version of Robinson's Netflix series, I Think You Should Leave, the result is one of the funniest comedies to come along in ages. Still, for viewers who aren't on the same wavelength as Robinson's specific brand of cringe humor, Friendship may be a bit of a harder sell than your typical bromance movie. Either way, Robinson and Rudd make for a dynamic comedic duo. Just don't expect this delightfully twisted, platonic take on Fatal Attraction to try befriending mainstream audiences in the slightest. |
Friendship screens under the Midnight Madness programme at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. Its runtime is 1 hr. 40 min.
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