Making friends as a guy is really hard. It’s easier when we’re kids, but it gets tougher as we get older. And I’m sure each and every one of us has a horror story about trying too hard to fit in so somebody will like us. Well, imagine that person you want to be friends with is Paul Rudd. Who doesn’t want to be friends with Paul Rudd??? We all do! And I admit, I’d probably go a bit overboard to be his pal. But not like Tim Robinson’s character does in A24’s cringe comedy Friendship, and his attempts to be best buds are pretty hilarious. It’s the other stuff that doesn’t work as well.
I’m not familiar with Tim Robinson or his popular show, I Think You Should Leave, and his introduction for me was very similar to Tim Key in The Ballad of Wallis Island. He’s very good at playing a severely awkward person, the kind whose actions make you hide your face in shame for him. People embarrassing themselves wildly…well, it’s pretty funny. And Friendship can be very funny, almost like a more psychologically twisted version of Rudd’s comedy classic, I Love You, Man.
Robinson plays Craig Waterman, a socially inept, embarrassingly inept husband to the beautiful Tami (Kate Mara), who puts up with it despite his not paying her enough attention. He’s got a good albeit nasty corporate job finding ways to get people hooked on various products and apps. But it’s clear that Craig is also just lonely. He’s got no friends, and Tami seems to have rekindled an old “friendship” with her ex, Devon. Craig and Tami also have a son, Steven (Jack Dylan Grazer), who is definitely closer to his mom.
Craig’s world is flipped upside down when the mailman accidentally delivers a package to the wrong house, a frequent gag. The package belongs to the new neighbor, Austin Carmichael (Rudd), a local TV weatherman who is almost too cool to be real, and certainly too cool for poor Craig’s brain to handle. He immediately begins fantasizing scenarios in which they are best buds, or that he’s coming to Austin’s rescue. Fortunately, Austin takes an interest in him, too, and they start hanging out. Austin seems to know everything and be everything. He knows about truffle hunting, explores ancient underground tunnels throughout the city, and he’s in a rock band, too! Oh, and he’s got amazing hair. Poor Craig didn’t stand a chance.
Friendship works best when it plays like a bromance, really leaning into Rudd’s charm and Robinson’s skill at making us want to cower in shame. The number of times I groaned under my breath “Oh no, don’t do that” at something stupidly inappropriate that Craig was about to do was too many to count. But at the same time, writer/director Andrew DeYoung does a really good job of getting us to feel Craig’s shyness and desperation to fit in. Again, it’s not easy to make friends as adults but it’s really difficult for men, who feel they must act a certain way, have a certain level of success, etc. We see Craig in these scenarios, around other men who get along together, and he just can’t handle the pressure of it.
But where Friendship goes on the skids is in the second half when it becomes less funny, and instead leans into Craig’s creepy side. Potential violence gets introduced into the scenario, revelations about Austin alter our opinion of him, and Craig’s marital woes go off the rails. Nobody emerges very likable in this scenario, and that hurts what had been a nice little movie about mismatched dudes and potential buds.
Friendship was a big hit at TIFF and A24 picked it up, undoubtedly thinking it could be a cult favorite. They might be right. Despite my reservations about much of the film, it’s quotable as Hell, makes great use of Rudd’s natural charisma, and Robinson leaves quite the impression that’ll be hard to forget.
A24 releases Friendship into DC theaters on May 16th.
