The Friend, which features potent performances by Naomi Watts and Bill Murray, hit theater screens this spring and now can be streamed. The plot focuses on Murray’s character, Walter, a successful New York City-based writer, who left his beloved great dane behind when he chose to commit suicide.
Who will care for Apollo? It is up to one of Walter’s numerous wives, girlfriends, a daughter, and a female pal to step into the role of caretaker. After conversations and hesitations, Walter’s best friend Iris agrees to save Apollo from his current life in a kennel. Iris is played by Watts, and her acting throughout is impressive.
Iris brings the giant dog home to her Washington Place modest studio. Oops. No go. No dogs allowed in this rent-controlled apartment.
Will Iris fight to hold onto Apollo? Is she willing to make changes in her lifestyle to give a permanent home to Apollo? In doing so, will she lose her longtime rent-controlled home? As the story begins, it doesn’t seem as though she’ll put much effort into assuring happiness for the strong-willed canine. He takes the bed; she gets the floor!
As The Friend progresses, several important themes are explored. First is the problem of the homeless pooch. Then comes the matter of the women that Walter has left behind; do they get along? Will they burden themselves by editing his to-be-published letters?
And a dark theme—why did Walter commit suicide? This part of the story is told in a subtle manner that most members of the family can view. The film was rated R for language including a sexual reference. I found the language to be quite tame.
The Friend is based on a 2018 novel with the same title. It was written by Sigrid Nunez who is an award-winning author. The Friend is a National Book Award winner. It is listed as one of The New York Times’s 100 Best Books of the 21st Century.
The directing duo of Scott McGehee and David Siegel have worked side by side for thirty years, making films of various genres, particularly thrillers, including What Maisie Knew, Uncertainty, and The Deep End. Their story-telling style here is warm, fairly placid. The themes of The Friend are dramatic, but the story unfolds at a relaxed pace. The screenplay concentrates in an unaffected way on the developing bond between Iris and Apollo. I never even have owned a pet, except for one unsociable goldfish when I was eight or ten, but I was completely involved in the growing relationship between Iris and the dog.
I originally decided to see this film because Bill Murray is in it. I soon realized this is Naomi Watts’ film. Along with the directors, she controls much of the mood of the scenes, and she works incredibly well with her canine costar. This trio of human talents has connected the themes, worked well with the ensemble of supporting actors, and has depicted a realistic New York City ambience. They have created an enjoyable, even memorable, motion picture.
Audrey Kupferberg is a film and video archivist and retired appraiser. She is lecturer emeritus and the former director of Film Studies at the University at Albany and co-authored several entertainment biographies with her late husband and creative partner, Rob Edelman.
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