Movie Review: Friendship
Friendship might be the hardest I have laughed in a movie this decade. Written and directed by Andrew DeYoung, Friendship is an absurdist comedy that finds two of our best comedic stars working at the height of their powers in perfect unison. It’s a shame it forgets to be a movie for the last act.
Tim Robinson plays Craig, an unassuming suburban dad who works for a marketing company, wears nothing but Ocean View Dining clothing, which is nothing but khakis, button downs, and a giant puffer jacket, and seemingly has nobody else in his life other than his wife Tami (Kate Mara) and son Steven (Jack Dylan Glazer). When a package meant for his new neighbor, Austin (Paul Rudd), is delivered to his house, Craig returns it and the two spark a friendship, which turns weird quickly when Craig starts to revolve his entire life around hanging out with Austin.
The plot of Friendship almost sounds like the plot of a stalker horror film, and it’s really bordering on that idea. But the film never quite reaches that point thanks to DeYoung’s skillful writing and direction and Robinson and Rudd’s comedic brilliance. Instead, Friendship plays like the love child of The Cable Guy and I Love You, Man, except in this one Rudd is the one being courted instead of doing the courting. Robinson’s awkward brand of humor, made famous in his sketch comedy show I Think You Should Leave, plays nicely with Rudd’s slick wit to make comedy gold. I’m not sure of Robinson’s prospects as a comedy star, as his schtick can get thin sometimes and feels more fit for television. But Friendship does feature the best Paul Rudd performance in some years, doing a little bit of Brian Fantana from Anchorman while also hiding a sadness and insecurity that comes with seemingly confident men.
Through all the uncomfortable and outrageous laughs that take place seemingly every few seconds in Friendship, the film also tackles the complexities of building a new friendship as an adult male. Craig, who is awkward in any situation, is even more awkward around Austin because he is always trying to impress him in some way, even though Austin, who seems calm, cool, and collected in everything he does, also has his flaws and secrets. It also paints a portrait of the redundancy of suburban life and what happens when something exciting comes along.
There is a glaring issue with Friendship, and it’s that it forgets that it is a movie in the second half of the film. While always leaning more on the obscure side, Friendship dives headfirst into bizarreness in the last act of the film, particularly when Tami goes missing after Craig takes her down into a sewer system that Austin showed him earlier in the film. This is when the film comes completely off the rails, and any sort of story and character development is thrown out the window. This time in the film is still funny and insane, but it makes you miss when the film was a unique look at male friendship and the boring nature of the suburbs.
Still, the non-stop absurd laughs make Friendship one of the best comedies of 2025.
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