This is the kind of film that makes staring blankly at the screen into an art form. Friendship is a black comedy aimed at those who are in the mood to see a black comedy. Sadly, I wasn’t among them … nor, as far as I can tell, was anybody else in the theater where I saw Friendship. This is a film that hinges on the audience enjoying things like a mother and son who kiss each other on the lips, random ventures into sewer systems for spelunking purposes, and a hallucinogenic trip that ends in a fantasy about buying lunch from Subway sandwiches.
Staring blankly at the screen. That’s how I treated all of these moments. I wanted to enjoy them. I just didn’t. I challenge you to approach them differently.
Middle management buffoon Craig (Tim Robinson, a dork’s dork) is a family man with little imagination and a fairly humdrum life. He doesn’t really have friends, isn’t much of a parent or a husband, and doesn’t seem to know what to do with the fact that his wife has re-kindled a Friendship with an ex-boyfriend. Redelivering a package to a neighbor, Criag meets Austin (Paul Rudd), a local weatherman, who invites Craig over for drinks.
Strangely, the two hit it off. Do we assume this is simply because Austin can get along with anybody and Craig – a blocky, uptight, socially-awkward doof – just happens to be anybody? Maybe. Tentative at first, Craig eventually goes all in. This might be the
first friend he’s had in years. I think we can all see where this is headed – the two have some adventures until Craig blows it. And Craig was always going to blow it sooner or later.
The movie then becomes “What About Craig?” which begs the question, “Why do we care?” I think this is a legitimate and worthwhile question and is tied directly into my enjoyment of the picture … or lack thereof.
Friendship was a painful exercise in cringe. It left me wondering how a film gets financed with Tim Robinson as the protagonist, and a squishy, puss-filled sac of protagonist at that. We know he’s mediocre. The film knows he’s mediocre. So when Craig does things that make us cringe, how are we supposed to approach that? “Thank GOD! The film didn’t cut away to a story or character we might actually like!” Paul Rudd is wasted on this material
There once was a speedbump named Craig
Whose positives we’d speculate as “vague”
But hey! Here’s a friend
When’s that going to end?
Because failure is this guy’s entire bag
Rated R, 100 Minutes
Director: Andrew DeYoung
Writer: Andrew DeYoung
Genre: It wasn’t funny to me
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Tim Robinson believers
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: The rest of us
