Craig (Tim Robinson) becomes enamoured with his new neighbour Austin (Paul Rudd). But when Austin breaks off their friendship, Craig spirals.
Friendship is the kind of film that will likely cause a physical reaction when watching: uncomfortably curled up into a ball, head in your hands, peering between your fingers when you feel brave enough. This is cringe comedy through and through, destined to have audiences squirming in their seats as if everyone arrived at the cinema in trousers a size too small — but Andrew DeYoung’s film is hilarious precisely because it is so gleefully deranged, taking full advantage of the well-established comedic powers of Tim Robinson.
DeYoung wrote the leading part of lonely dad Craig specifically for Robinson, and it’s impossible to imagine any other actor embodying this character, considering how well the film taps into his singular brand of awkward humour. Fans of Robinson’s cult Netflix sketch-comedy series I Think You Should Leave will know what his type is: strange men who explode when confronted with their inability to follow the unspoken code of social situations, who respond to conflict with increasingly absurd solutions.
Friendship will inevitably be quoted for years to come.
Craig is one of these men, though his life seems pleasant enough at first. He has a corporate job developing “habit-forming” apps and tries his best to bond with his teenage son. (“There’s a new Marvel out that’s meant to be nuts!” he offers at one point.) But it’s clear something is missing in his life, something that will get him off the couch that he sits on every night. He’s lonely, and adult friendships are not easy. When new-to-the-neighbourhood, charismatic local weatherman Austin (an outstanding Paul Rudd) takes Craig out on a night-time adventure, he imagines his life turning around for the better. “I can see the future,” he says. “It’s full of pals.”
But the beauty of Friendship is that Austin isn’t some infallible, unattainable god — he’s just another normal guy. Craig is enamoured with the artefacts Austin collects and the band he plays in, but fails to notice how frequently he is hazed by his newsroom colleagues. A surprise reveal that’s too good to spoil truly shatters any illusion of Austin’s coolness, and yet Craig worships him all the same.
When Austin admits he wants to end their friendship (in the most brutal bromance break-up since The Banshees Of Inisherin), Craig’s desperate attempts to hold on to their connection escalate in typical Robinson fashion: through loud, embarrassing declarations and woefully misguided attempts to seek approval. The gag-per-minute rate is innumerable. There’s a ridiculous side quest involving the most anti-climactic drug-trip of all time, a heavy dose of tumbling through glass doors, and so many instantly memorable lines that Friendship will inevitably be quoted for years to come.
This zany debut dials up the cringe comedy to its most excruciating extremes — and it’s a riot. Andrew DeYoung and Tim Robinson are a match made in heaven.
