April 1, 2025
FILM: THE FRIEND
DIRECTED BY: SCOTTY MCGEHEE, DAVID SIEGEL
STARRING: NAOMI WATTS, BILL MURRAY, BING
RATING: 3 out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
The new film The Friend is based on the 2018 National Book Award winner by Sigrid Nunez, which concerns a woman who is left a friend’s dog after he has committed suicide. Naomi Watts stars as Iris, a writer and college professor who had a long-term friendship with Walter, played by Bill Murray. Early in the film she finds out that Walter has died. His most recent wife believes his Great Dane Apollo (Bing) was to be left with Iris, which is curious since Iris lives in an even smaller apartment than she does and the building doesn’t allow dogs. This detail becomes a problem for Iris but the primary focus is on how she deals with Apollo who clearly is mourning for Walter.
The Friend is about the grieving process as it effects not only the people left behind after someone’s death but also their trusted pets. Most every moment we see Apollo on screen he has a completely sad and forlorn look on his face. He sleeps with one of Walter’s shirts on Iris’s bed. He’s also huge, taking up most of that bed which relegates Iris to an air mattress. It’s incredibly sad to see.
Perhaps even sadder is how some of the other people in Walter’s life are grieving, including his snotty and most annoying daughter played by Sarah Pidgeon. She’s been tasked with adapting his notes in book form but, frankly, seems more like she’d rather be on her phone. I don’t think this portrayal was meant to be funny, which it isn’t. Rather it signals something about the way the filmmakers chose to portray many of the female characters: many are cold and focused on their own sometimes selfish needs. For instance, there’s Constance Wu as one of Walter’s ex-wives who is also unpleasant and more concerned with her couch than Apollo who attempts to sit on it.
This signals a problem with the script in general. The character Wu plays really serves no significant purpose to the story at hand. We don’t learn anything about her relationship with Walter. Similarly another ex-wife played by Carla Gugino initially comes across as a friend to Iris but then seems to disappear later in the film. Ann Dowd is also on hand as one of Iris’s neighbors but she too is largely underdeveloped and unnecessary to the resolution of Iris’s dilemma. At times some of the relationships between these characters feels unclear, as if they might have had more significance in the novel (which I’ve not read) but cut for length in the already a bit long two hour film.
At the beginning, the script features voice over narration from Iris. Is she talking to us? Walter? Both? The usage of this technique is a bit inconsistent and clearly has a “writerly” feel about it, which feels taken from the novel.
All of that said, there is a lot to like about the film. First off, it does a nice job of exploring the emotions associated with grief and friendship. Walter had some pretty special types of friendships with Iris and Apollo (and apparently his ex-wives.) What one does for a friend suggests the depth of that friendship. The grief of Apollo is also handled quite sensitively. At one point, some of Walter’s writings are read and Apollo perks up clearly indicating that Walter regularly “talked” to his beloved pet.
Apollo, played by the dog Bing, is very well trained and masters his performance from beginning to end. Naomi Watts is also excellent as Iris. She demonstrates a strong mix of sadness, frustration, and deep-seated love for her old and new friend. Bill Murray is an interesting choice as Walter. It’s a little hard to not think of Walter as Murray rather than a noted scholar and academic but his performance is pretty well contained and believable. (He appears in flashbacks throughout much of the film.)
New York City is also expertly depicted from cramped apartments to the winter streets where Iris walks Apollo. It definitely feels lived in and alive.
The film will no doubt leave many people sniffling, which I heard during the screening I attended. There is a bittersweet feeling present which takes hold well after the credits roll. The various questionable character portrayals are largely forgotten when one thinks about Apollo and the feelings he instills in Iris and the audience.
The Friend opens theatrically this week.
FILM: THE FRIEND
DIRECTED BY: SCOTTY MCGEHEE, DAVID SIEGEL
STARRING: NAOMI WATTS, BILL MURRAY, BING
RATING: 3 out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
The new film The Friend is based on the 2018 National Book Award winner by Sigrid Nunez, which concerns a woman who is left a friend’s dog after he has committed suicide. Naomi Watts stars as Iris, a writer and college professor who had a long-term friendship with Walter, played by Bill Murray. Early in the film she finds out that Walter has died. His most recent wife believes his Great Dane Apollo (Bing) was to be left with Iris, which is curious since Iris lives in an even smaller apartment than she does and the building doesn’t allow dogs. This detail becomes a problem for Iris but the primary focus is on how she deals with Apollo who clearly is mourning for Walter.
The Friend is about the grieving process as it effects not only the people left behind after someone’s death but also their trusted pets. Most every moment we see Apollo on screen he has a completely sad and forlorn look on his face. He sleeps with one of Walter’s shirts on Iris’s bed. He’s also huge, taking up most of that bed which relegates Iris to an air mattress. It’s incredibly sad to see.
Perhaps even sadder is how some of the other people in Walter’s life are grieving, including his snotty and most annoying daughter played by Sarah Pidgeon. She’s been tasked with adapting his notes in book form but, frankly, seems more like she’d rather be on her phone. I don’t think this portrayal was meant to be funny, which it isn’t. Rather it signals something about the way the filmmakers chose to portray many of the female characters: many are cold and focused on their own sometimes selfish needs. For instance, there’s Constance Wu as one of Walter’s ex-wives who is also unpleasant and more concerned with her couch than Apollo who attempts to sit on it.
This signals a problem with the script in general. The character Wu plays really serves no significant purpose to the story at hand. We don’t learn anything about her relationship with Walter. Similarly another ex-wife played by Carla Gugino initially comes across as a friend to Iris but then seems to disappear later in the film. Ann Dowd is also on hand as one of Iris’s neighbors but she too is largely underdeveloped and unnecessary to the resolution of Iris’s dilemma. At times some of the relationships between these characters feels unclear, as if they might have had more significance in the novel (which I’ve not read) but cut for length in the already a bit long two hour film.
At the beginning, the script features voice over narration from Iris. Is she talking to us? Walter? Both? The usage of this technique is a bit inconsistent and clearly has a “writerly” feel about it, which feels taken from the novel.
All of that said, there is a lot to like about the film. First off, it does a nice job of exploring the emotions associated with grief and friendship. Walter had some pretty special types of friendships with Iris and Apollo (and apparently his ex-wives.) What one does for a friend suggests the depth of that friendship. The grief of Apollo is also handled quite sensitively. At one point, some of Walter’s writings are read and Apollo perks up clearly indicating that Walter regularly “talked” to his beloved pet.
Apollo, played by the dog Bing, is very well trained and masters his performance from beginning to end. Naomi Watts is also excellent as Iris. She demonstrates a strong mix of sadness, frustration, and deep-seated love for her old and new friend. Bill Murray is an interesting choice as Walter. It’s a little hard to not think of Walter as Murray rather than a noted scholar and academic but his performance is pretty well contained and believable. (He appears in flashbacks throughout much of the film.)
New York City is also expertly depicted from cramped apartments to the winter streets where Iris walks Apollo. It definitely feels lived in and alive.
The film will no doubt leave many people sniffling, which I heard during the screening I attended. There is a bittersweet feeling present which takes hold well after the credits roll. The various questionable character portrayals are largely forgotten when one thinks about Apollo and the feelings he instills in Iris and the audience.
The Friend opens theatrically this week.