PLOT: A suburban dad (Tim Robinson) becomes hellbent on being BFFs with his charismatic new neighbour (Paul Rudd).
REVIEW: Confession time – this movie is my introduction to Tim Robinson. Sure, I’ve had folks name-drop his show I Think You Should Leave, and it’s always been on my list of stuff to check out. But, I walked into this more-or-less fresh, not knowing what to expect. What I got was one of the most cringe-inducing comedies I’ve ever seen – and I loved every second of it.
To be sure, this kind of humour isn’t for everyone. There were times while I was watching Friendship in the (jam-packed) TIFF screening that I’m sure I annoyed the people sitting next to me by how many times I sunk in my seat, covering my face with my hands and repeating “no, no, no” louder than I should. That’s the effect this had on me.
In it, Tim Robinson plays a painful, awkward suburbanite who, despite his many foibles, has somehow managed to land a gorgeous wife (Kate Mara) who puts up with his madness and seems to have a good, if evil, job designing ways to get people addicted to apps on their phone. His whole world changes when a TV weatherman, Austin Carmichael (Paul Rudd), moves in next door and takes an interest in him.
Rudd, for his part, weaponizes his cool guy charisma. Almost everyone reading this probably wants to be best friends with Rudd, so we get why Robinson wants to impress him so much. The film starts off as a quasi-charming bromance in the vein of a more indie-flavoured I Love You Man before becoming something more radical.
Friendship is the kind of movie indie distributors should be fighting over because, more than anything else I’ve seen at TIFF this year, it seems to have a chance to become the kind of cult comedy its fans watch repeatedly. While it’s horrifically uncomfortable to watch at times, it’s also hilarious, with instantly quotable dialogue (watching Robinson’s character get crazy excited over the MCU will go viral) and characters – such as a teenage drug dealer named T-Boy, cool folks might start dressing up as for screenings.
It’s also surprisingly nuanced about how hard it is to make friends as an adult male. Indeed, we’re not always wired that way, with our natural inclination as we get older being to hibernate with our families. It’s not true for everyone, but some folks watching this will relate to how Robinson’s character develops a bro crush on Rudd and wants to be instant best buds, even if the way he goes about it is certifiably insane.
The supporting cast is good, too, with Kate Mara both warm and funny in an offhand way throughout the movie. She gets to be more three-dimensional than usual for a movie like this, with her having both agency and a sense of humour. I also loved It’s Jack Dylan Glazer as Robinson’s cool son whose uncomfortably warm relationship with his hot mom is good fodder for even more uncomfortable laughs.
Hopefully, someone will snap up Friendship, as it rocked the house at TIFF’s Midnight Madness (it was the runner-up in its TIFF awards category). Director Andrew DeYoung (Our Flag Means Death) directs this with real flair, with Keegan Dewitt’s score also impressive. Heck, it’s hard not to love a movie that opens with a synth wave riff on Ryuichi Sakamoto’s theme for Merry Christmas, Mister Lawrence. If that last line there made you chuckle, then this is the movie for you. It’s niche, but I think in a couple of years the Friendship cult will grow and grow.
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