Did we just become best friends? That’s the question that jumpstarts writer-director Andrew DeYoung’s Friendship. Dweeby, socially awkward Craig gets a package meant for new neighbor Austin, whose warm demeanor immediately draws Craig in. The two become friends, fast friends. The budding friendship gets its first test at a group event, a guy’s night. Can you guess how things go? If I told you one of the guys is played by Tim Robinson and the other by Paul Rudd, can you already match the actors to their character?
Friendship takes the well-established comic personas of each actor and lets their combustible chemistry take the wheel from there. As Craig, Robinson’s comic intensity and knack for instantly memeable reactions translate from the short form of I Think You Should Leave to feature length better than you might think. Rudd’s doing his everyman bit that has endeared him to audiences for decades, and it works just as well as ever. In hindsight, there’s a part of me that wonders how the film would’ve played had they switched characters and played against type. Hypotheticals aside, letting people play to their strengths gives the comedy a reliable baseline. It allows DeYoung to take bigger swings with the situations he drops the characters into knowing Robinson and Rudd will get laughs while opening up the potential for some explosive moments of hilarity.
As a writer, DeYoung taps into something we’ve all felt before: wanting to impress someone only to flounder and fumble it away. Anyone who’s ever tried a little too hard to win someone over, or been on the receiving end of those overtures, will certainly connect with the awkwardness DeYoung conjures up. Smartly, those feelings of insecurity cut both ways for Craig and Austin. One of the men handles it better than the other, but it’s still there. That provides the dramatic and comedic drive for the film. DeYoung’s script rides the line of coming up with funny, relatable scenarios and cranking them up just enough to open the doors for the laughs to flow without feeling like he’s forcing the comedy. With performers like Robinson and Rudd, the laughs come easily. That’s without even getting into the supporting cast that crackles every time they get to deliver jokes. Most noteworthy is Kate Mara as Craig’s wife, Tami. Mara gets the film’s heaviest dramatic elements, but she generates plenty of laughs on her own.
Similar to I Think You Should Leave, Friendship comes preloaded with a “you’ve-gotta-see-this” cache. It’s Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd bouncing from one awkward situation to the next. There are a couple of reaction shots and off-hand comments that surely will become memes the second the movie opens. It’s a very funny movie. Of course it’s funny. The real test of Friendship‘s strength, like any relationship, will come with time and repeat viewings, which this movie is sure to garner.
