SXSW 2025 Review:
"Friendship"
No one best exemplifies cringe comedy of the 2020s than Tim Robinson. With I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson, the comedian exists to make everyone uncomfortable with meticulously and cunningly crafted skits fueled by bad behavior that force us to look in the mirror and ask, Can I also that rude, selfish, or mean? So it should not come as a surprise that the first film Robinson is asked to carry feels like an extended skit from his Netflix series. This is not a backhanded compliment. Friendship manages to sustain its crackling negative energy from start to finish while Robinson successfully transfers his problematic white-collar everyman persona to the big screen. Written and directed by episodic TV veteran Andrew DeYoung, this sharply written character study chronicles the fast start to and even faster collapse of an unlikely friendship between two very different middle-aged men. Tiresome advertising executive Robinson’s Craig Waterman lives a ho-hum existence with his obviously bored and potentially unfaithful wife Tami (Kate Mara) and their teenage son Steven (Jack Dylan Grazer), neither of whom cannot hide their disdain for Craig. Everything changes for the friend-less Craig when TV meteorologist Austin Carmichael (Paul Rudd) moves into the neighborhood. Austin is outgoing, spontaneous, and popular, and not only does Craig take an immediately liking to Austin, but he feels privileged to be accepted as Austin’s friend. Rudd imbues Austin with a Ron Burgundy-sized personality, making him the life of the party while managing to make those around him each feel special and unique. Everyone wants to be Austin, and Rudd plays into this with ease and bluster. Of course, there’s more to Austin than meets the eye, but Craig is too enamored with Austin to see beyond what’s in front of him. Craig and Austin quickly become inseparable—until Craig steps over the line and Austin ends their friendship. What starts as a funny and incisive exploration of the significance and benefits of later-life friendship becomes an acidic study in obsession, paranoia, and unjustified grievance. The impact on Craig can be felt immediately in Friendship as Robinson drags his hapless schlub from pure, unadulterated happiness to borderline manic depression. If you have watched I Think You Should Leave, you already know Robinson is not afraid to push himself beyond the limits to humiliating the characters he plays, especially if they lack a sense of shame or self-awareness of their inexcusable actions. And Robinson applies this comic philosophy to Friendship. He and DeYoung take delight not just in pushing Craig over the edge but into stalker mode, which results in some obviously terrible, harmful decisions that are as unnerving to watch play out as they are hilarious. To some extent, it is understandable why Craig would act in such an extreme manner. He is a lonely man who does not muster any respect at home or at the office. So to have a person as exciting and empowering as Austin come into his life is a game-changer for someone such as Craig. But Friendship unreservedly spares Craig no mercy as it unfolds as a cautionary tale about the trappings of being defined by one specific relationship. Posted: March 25, 2025. Web site: https://a24films.com/films/friendship |
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