Final Rating: 4/5
A creative writing professor’s life is upended when her friend and mentor dies and leaves his Great Dane to her. Naomi Watts plays Iris, a professor living in New York, and Bill Murray is Walter, a renowned poet in The Friend, a film by Scott McGehee and David Siegel.
Walter is survived by two ex-wives and a widow, as well as a daughter – from none of the three women – and Iris, his best friend who now finds herself in the middle of several tense relationships while she takes on the task of editing Walter’s correspondences – and caring for his dog, Apollo, who Walter wanted Iris to adopt.
The Friend centres on the relationship between Iris and Apollo. Initially uncomfortable with the idea of becoming a dog-owner – and living in a pet-free building – Iris sets out to rehome the Great Dane. In trying to find a new home for Apollo, she regularly conflicts with Walter’s ex-wives, and her own neighbours. It’s not long before the strongest relationship in her life appears to be her growing bond with Apollo.
Crucially, Watts and Bing (the dog actor playing Apollo), are fantastic in the film’s lead roles. Iris is a perpetual problem-solver, so perfectly reliable that she’s easy to take advantage of. Though Walter was undeniably important to her, he also repeatedly put her into difficult and uncomfortable situations. Sudden dog-ownership puts Iris at the centre of conflict with the rest of the women in Walter’s life, as well as putting her in danger of eviction. Watts is confident and empathetic in her portrayal, Iris remaining firmly in control even when she’s in way over her head.
As Apollo, Bing regularly challenges her in an uncommonly arresting animal performance. His sadness at the mention of Walter, the way his ears perk up when he hears poetry. With the way Bing steals the show in every scene, it’s tempting to wonder if the film was written around this real dog (though of course it wasn’t).
The supporting cast in The Friend offers several different takes on betrayal. Walter’s untimely passing robs everyone around him of the possibility of closure, as his life suddenly disappears from theirs.
Carla Gugino stands out as Walter’s first wife, Elaine. She walks a thin line between rage and depression, Walter’s death bringing a swift end to their strained relationship. In her interactions with Iris, Elaine is composed, kind, but feels like she could explode at any moment.
Walter’s second wife, Tuesday (Constance Wu), is less composed. Tuesday deals with her ex-husband’s death by making it everyone else’s problem. Wu’s performance is the funniest of the supporting characters, but also the saddest. It’s a more immature take on a feeling of being left behind, one that lashes out however she can, ultimately simply becoming annoying to the people who could be her supporters.
What happens to the people left behind after someone dies? Where will they go, and what will they do? And what does it mean when someone so close not only dies, but kills themselves?
What will happen to their friends? The most repeated phrase drives home the core theme:
“What will happen to the dog?”
Walter is a monumental presence, but also believably human. The Walter people talk about is a bit of everything, and no half-measures. He’s one of the greatest literary minds of the 21st century; a heartless asshole who seduced and discarded women; a kind-hearted soul who inspired devotion from everyone whose life he touched. In Walter’s few scenes, he’s a little of all those things, but mostly just a kindly, outgoing older man.
Through an effective reversal of the maxim of “show don’t tell,” Walter is elevated on-screen by the reputation he accrues while off-screen. Everything ascribed to him feels believable, if exaggerated through the impact he had on others. Though Walter is only on-screen for a few minutes, the audience is left wanting him to stick around just a little bit longer.
In The Friend, McGehee and Siegel tap into the emptiness left behind when someone close is no longer around, and the difficulty of letting go. Is the titular “friend” Iris, Apollo, or Walter? Hard to say when the existence of each so thoroughly alters the course of each of the others’ lives.
“I want you to live as long as I do,” Iris narrates near the end of the film, “anything else would be unfair.”
Thank you to Mongrel Media and StarPR for screening invite.
