The Friend (2024)

The-Friend
The Friend

Alain Delon was adamant before his death that when he breathed last so should his dog Loubo. “What could you expect from a pet so important? It would be difficult for my dog. I don’t want that. DeLon’s most ardent supporters believe every so much,” he stated in defense of animals. (In the end, Delon’s children assured the press that Loubo would be spared.)

In the overarch’s Arch, that’s the word in any event; the dog possessed the requisite stable Ontario or bloodline or bequeathed itself like the castle. The friend raises this and other questions to a greater degree than is appropriate for a film of such a title. It is a Drama in five opuses in which the audience is graced with 180 pounds of a cooperative advocate animal for lots of tears during the Great Dane Apollo. Naomi Watts is affectionate in this anticipatory clap trap according to violence.

The majority of people do not like to think about death which makes it rather hard to break down what it is, and this unfortunate set of affairs can be seen in most pet owners as well since they often do not think about what happens to their companions after they pass away. This however is not what happens with Walter Meredith (Bill Murray) a highly esteemed and old-fashioned novelist who got into trouble with the ethics committee for sleeping with his students but thanks to him being a novelist he just retired instead of losing his job completely as he leaves the moose-sized dog to his most favorite mentee lover, Iris (Watts).

For co-directors David Siegel and Scott McGehee, convincing Murray to participate in what is essentially a glorified cameo role was a major accomplishment. It is a role that requires an actor who can even when off screen still possess his character and stir the required charm to such a difficult character. As I have said, I’m not great at keeping track of a given character’s previous romantic partners. Walter, who is a chronic philanderer, has his first, second, and third wives Elaine (Carla Gugino), Tuesday (Constance Wu), and Barbara (Noma Dumezweni) respectively – attending his wedding while his adult daughter Val (Sarah Pidgeon) and a bunch of other friends including Iris was in attendance.

Is the title of this film so ‘uninspiring’ simply because Walter, Iris, or even the dog may be more deserving of it? Such vagueness should be placed squarely at Nunez’s door, the author of the critical acclaim novel that Sigrid McGehee and Siegel adapted in “The Deep End.” A viewer can treat the book, as well as the film, quite literally as a relatively uneventful story about how a big, sad dog gets dumped on one or they may interpret it slightly differently and see it as a story reaching towards themes of death with Apollo representing the pain of losing a loved one to suicide.

In other words, though “The Friend” runs for two hours, and one may feel that it is a little drawn out, and a bit lacking in terms of action in relation to an animal adoption story, it is better to settle in and allow it to operate on an emotional level. Here, of course, one’s own history, for wives and dead children, for dogs adopted, and such other matters, determine how much of the experience one wishes to take with them. It is an interesting perspective and in some ways a bittersweet one, a friend advised that dogs are on this planet to help us deal with grieving, but such notions are too self-centered, as it is a fact that their lifespan is much lower than ours and therefore, losing a dog forces one to face mortality.

What made Walter think that Iris was the ideal person to carry out his wish a person to look after Apollo? At first, what leaps to the mind of most people is the fact that Iris lives by herself in a small apartment on Washington Place, and keeps no pets as they are prohibited in her lease. Also, Iris and Walter had a suicidal sense of humor and made remarks like “The more suicidal people there are, the less suicidal people there are.” But she never believed that he actually would intend to do it. But now he has done it, and he is no longer around to explain why. This is the desperate nature of suicide It haunts feelings of confusion within the loved ones left to grieve the dead.

Taking into account all of these facts, the situation with Iris seems rather bizarre. On the one hand, she does not live with Apollo, but the loss of her every morning reminds her of Walter, who has passed away. This massive creature, which one of her pupils (Owen Teague) calls “the king of dogs”, Vera believes is now her responsibility. But one of the building’s tenants (Felix Solis) is not too keen on the idea of having dogs in the building, and it begs the question as to how Iris could smuggle Apollo who is quite large within her handbag. Even friendly people reporting about the corporation feel displeased: imagine having a beast like that next door; sooner or later, falling complaints are unavoidable.

I’m not sure what can be worse than a Great Dane in a New York apartment and an even greater jaw drop to be walked within the streets of Manhattan, which makes “The Friend,” as a movie too interesting to ignore. There are moments of the dog, Apollo, pulling Iris by a leash and the times he will stand in place without moving. In a film-related gag, over the images of Iris walking Apollo around New York’s bustling streets, the song song “Everybody’s Talkin’” accentuates the excellent rolls (although this film will never match Midnite Cowboy in how the viewers get shocked with its resolution).

Dog lovers will appreciate “The Friend” nonetheless, even if the ending resolves itself in a simple manner, which is the case here. The only thing that holds Iris back from rescuing Apollo is the fact that she has to wish to adopt him and all that implies responsibility for some life end of say, a five-year-old animal’s life. The Friend is like an educational video about somebody’s grief or about the process that comes before the actual grief.

Even though it seems that the majority of the viewers I have come across tend to feel deeply about “The Friend” I would explain my lack of such feelings owing to two factors. First, a dog actor named Bing plays the role of Apollo, and according to his physical appearance, he seems to be well-trained, which is contrary to the character of Iris whom she finds unmanageable. Second, each and every dog in the film is too polite, when in fact, there is too much doggone politeness in the film. I am first very puzzled and then utterly frustrated as I see that when Apollo messes up and climbs up onto her bed, Iris lets out a silent roar, walks over, and finds the air mattress. In fact, I was annoyed that the characters were not shown to be more annoyed with one another.

To the degree that “The Friend” is billed as a film about catharsis, it would also make sense if other characters embodied strong emotions along with Iris. One of the examples in the movie for this would be when she rolls the sand, and conversely, the very next scene where Moses approaches Walter’s apparition feels so forced. What the major filmmaker is trying to suggest is sympathy, from the point of view of an artist who is also in a creative block, it makes sense to seek ways of putting that moment into a book. But is this book even within the range of what Walter believed his most gifted student could write? Dead or not, friends do not let their friends write any junk fiction.

For More Movies Like The Friend Visit on 123Movies

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top