The Friend
When I realized that it was the writing/directing team of Scott McGehee and David Siegel that made “Montana Story” a few years ago, I will admit to feeling like I was reconnecting with old friends. They had made the thriller “The Deep End” back in 2001, which I loved, and their work in the more recent character drama reminded me why “The Deep End” resonated with me so much. Here, their work is slightly more predictable with their adaptation of a novel by Sigrid Nunez, but “The Friend” benefits from their touch with actors, and the film’s sneaky emotional tug.
“The Friend” focuses on a book editor, Iris (Naomi Watts), and the tasks she’s forced to take on after the death of Walter (Bill Murray), a professor and author whom she had a fling with. She is not the only woman with a history with Walter- plenty of ex-wives and ex-girlfriends to go around at the memorial service- but there are two things she’s preoccupied with after his passing: a book revolving around his letters, and his Great Dane dog, Apollo. Allegedly- according to his current love- he wanted Iris to take Apollo, but she is in a high-end, rent-controlled apartment that doesn’t allow pets. As if grief and loss are not difficult enough.
When their wishes add complications to our lives, do our deceased loved ones take priority, or our lives? It’s a question I’ve asked myself often over the past few years, as my mother has been dealing with first dementia, then cancer. What’s the best course of action with everything in her house, and then, what to do with the house? I know that she had ideas that she wanted to have come to fruition, but they do not match what matters to my wife and I. The wishes Walter had for Apollo to be with Iris put a major kink in her life, one that is difficult for her to really wrestle with the longer she is with Apollo. Eventually, choices have to be made, and sometimes, those become more and more difficult. And yet, sometimes they become clearer.
There is definitely some connective tissue in this film with “Montana Story,” as both deal with loss, a complicated past with a loved one who’s either died- or is about to die- and how to navigate that dance. But “The Friend” will feel more familiar with audiences in terms of how it approaches its story than “Montana Story” was, in part because of the setting of a big city, and the pressure of how loss challenges people in unexpected ways. Watts is very good in the role of Iris, and she has strong support by Cloé Xhauflaire as Camille, Carla Gugino as Elaine, Constance Wu as Tuesday, Noma Dumezweni as Barbara, and Sarah Pidgeon as Val. Murray is a presence in the film in flashbacks- and in a key late scene with Watts- but he is not really major part of the larger arc beyond what his character has left behind. There is not much to this film that you haven’t seen before, but Watts’s performance- and the delicate nature in which McGehee and Siegel tell its story- help keep us engaged as the film shows that it’s title has more than one meaning, and how friendship can come through in unexpected ways.
