Friendship (2024)

Paul Rudd is someone I would like to be friends with. I've thought that for decades, but it was a notion strengthened by his turn in the wonderful I Love You, Man. Despite the turns taken here, Friendship is a film in line with my way of thinking. In fact, the heart of the whole thing is best summed up by asking yourself how far you would go to make things right if you became firm friends with Paul Rudd for a brief time before awkwardly spoiling the whole thing.

The feature debut of writer-director Andre DeYoung, Friendship is arguably more about the main star, Tim Robinson, who deserves to have a major moment after the brilliant and inspired lunacy of his sketch show, "I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson". Robinson does surrealism, he delivers brilliant commentary on modern life, and he isn't afraid to make things awkward. If you are familiar with his style then Friendship is not going to disappoint you. DeYoung may be in charge behind the camera, but it all feels tailored to the unique talents of Robinson.

Craig (Robinson) is a man who doesn't really do much. You would think that his wife, Tami (Kate Mara), recovering from a battle with cancer would give him a bit of oomph, but no. Craig doesn't seem to have any friends, doesn't really have any hobbies, and doesn't spend too much time outside his own headspace. That all changes when he meets Austin (Paul Rudd), a friendly neighbour who starts to show Craig some ways to start enjoying his life. But the friendship doesn't last too long, it's ended after Craig makes a bit of a fool of himself after enjoying an evening with Austin and others. Much like any sudden break-up though, someone doesn't want things to end. Not without one last chance to make amends anyway.

Brilliantly in line with the other recent work of Robinson, Friendship is both a perfect examination of the madness that affects those who suddenly find their feelings of affection/friendship/love not reciprocated and an exploration of self-confidence, masculinity, and the effort it takes to maintain a strong and enduring relationship. It IS about friendship, particularly the struggle to deal with that slightly childish concept once you're a man of a certain age, but it's also a look at how easy it can be to slide into, and become mired in, laziness and bad habits, as well as the lengths that some people will go to in order to avoid/make up for some awkward social interactions.

Brilliantly awkward and goofy, Robinson is perfect in the lead role. He's so easy to laugh that it's only much later in the movie that the neglect/mistreatment of his wife becomes crystal clear. He may not mean to cause harm, but his need to keep extinguishing his own flame ends up darkening the living space for someone who desperately needs some more light and warmth. Rudd is equally good, very much at ease playing his easygoing character with a hint of smugness and smarm that comes out more once he tries to put an end to his latest friendship. And he DOES make things clear, interestingly enough, which allows the film to focus on the escalating actions of someone suddenly spurned, as opposed to the more farcical slice of "hide and seek" it could have been. Everyone else onscreen does good work, especially considering how they have to play things fairly straight while Robinson is being consistently hilarious, but the other two I will mention are Jack Dylan Grazer (as Steven, Kate's teenage son) and Billy Bryk (a young mobile phone store worker, who also has access to some good drugs), both getting a chance to shine in a couple of scenes that have them being a bit more mature and a bit wiser than the male adult standing in front of them.

From the soundtrack choices to the editing, the production design to the lead up to various punchlines, everything here is designed to keep you on edge, but also keep you ready to laugh. If you don't like the opening scenes then you're not going to have a good time. But if you're a fan of Robinson's work . . . I cannot imagine you coming away from this disappointed. It's everything you could want, and then some.  

9/10

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Morgan (2016)

There's an incident at an isolated lab involving a young girl attacking a woman. That is how Morgan opens. Kate Mara is sent in to appraise and deal with the situation, and within another scene or two the viewers are told that the young girl isn't a young girl. She is a creation. An it. A corporate asset. It's just up to Mara to decide whether it is still a valuable asset or a mistake that should be erased.

Morgan is the feature directorial debut from Luke Scott, the son of a slightly well-known British director named Ridley. It's also the biggest project so far for writer Seth W. Owen. Unfortunately, nothing here gives an indication of a bright future for either one of them. This film is a mess, and often a dull mess (which is hard to get just right). It's almost as if it doesn't know what it wants to do, spending a lot of the first half examining identity and humanity before setting up a third act that brings in some action, a lot of implausible character behaviour, and a couple of twists that are remarkably unsurprising.

Things aren't too bad if we're looking at the whole thing on a purely technical level. The visuals, though drab, are decent and a couple of set-pieces work well enough to make you wish that there were some more scattered throughout.

The major flaws stem from the script, which wouldn't be too bad if it didn't also lead to a complete waste of some great talent. Jennifer Jason Leigh is in this movie, but you might not notice her as she delivers about three lines of dialogue. Michelle Yeoh gets a bit more screentime, but not enough to warrant her presence. Paul Giamatti manages to steal the show with one of the best scenes in the film, Toby Jones is sorely underused, Mara looks stern throughout, and Rose Leslie suffers through the whole thing as a character written without any obvious braincells in working order. She tries her best but the script gives her nothing but one dumb moment after another.

There are other people involved, but they just don't make enough of an impression, despite trying hard (Michael Yare probably does the best out of the supporting roster), or they are just on hand to provide a very brief cameo (Brian Cox).

So you get attempts to explore ideas that end up leading nowhere, some flashes of decent violent action, a lot of wasted cast members and unmemorable characters, and an ending that is supposed to make up for the preceding 90 minutes of tedium (although, trust me, it doesn't). Not recommended. At all.

3/10

Morgan is available to buy here.
And if you're in the USofA you can buy it here.

Sci-Fi September: Transcendence (2014)

Most people will tell you that Transcendence stinks like a sweaty gym bag that has been dumped in a closet and not cleaned out for months. It's drawn comparisons to The Lawnmower Man (okay, I made that comparison, but I think others also did it) and Max Headroom, and most of those comparisons haven't been too kind. But I enjoyed it. I didn't love it, but it was certainly better than I was expecting.

The plot is pretty simple. Johnny Depp plays master computer egghead Will Caster. When Will is hospitalised, and diagnosed to be dying, he decides that the time has come to overcome the problem of developing computers with self-awareness by inputting himself into the system. When his body dies, he will live on. His wife (Evelyn, played by Rebecca Hall) is very happy with this, but a couple of colleagues (Morgan Freeman and Paul Bettany) are highly disturbed. And perhaps they should be. Because Will in computer form may not actually be Will, but rather a facsimile of him to cover for a computer that can take over the world.

A first time in the director's seat for Wally Pfister (probably best known for his cinematography in the movies of Christopher Nolan) and a first time getting script to screen for Jack Paglen, it would be easy to put the failings of Transcendence down to the fact that the two men didn't have the right experience in their relevant fields. Yet, that just doesn't seem to be the case. The script is far from the best, but it tries to keep things on point while weaving through the plot developments. This is not a film about cool sci-fi stuff and supercomputers. Well, it IS that, but it's more concerned with the moral responsibility that comes with that potential ability to access anywhere, and anything, in the entire world. Pfister may let down anyone who comes looking for a decent set-piece of two, although he doesn't do too badly at all in the big chair.

Depp is okay in the main role, I guess, even if he seems to be phoning it in (no pun intended). It's the rest of the cast who carry the film, which is probably as it should be. Hall is very good as a loving wife adjusting to a new way of life, Freeman does the same kind of thing that he's been doing for a good few years now, and Bettany is able to remind viewers that he's always worth watching, even when not voicing robo-butlers in Marvel movies. Clifton Collins Jr. does well in a relatively small role, Kate Mara is alright as a main player in a group opposed to the growth of modern technology, Cillian Murphy is sadly underused as a cop, and Cole Hauser pops in during the final third to be his usual bundle of awesomeness.

More a mix of Eagle Eye and Lucy than either of the two films mentioned in the opening paragraph, Transcendence may not be to everyone's liking but it at least sticks to its main remit for the duration - which is about two hours. It's serious fare handled with a lightness of touch, although it's also a pretty humour-free experience, and should find one or two extra fans now that it's away from the cinemas and in the home entertainment market.

Never a film for those seeking big thrills or explosions, this focuses on one or two big ideas. Not anything new or perfect, by any means, but I'd tentatively recommend it as something worth watching once. You may hate it. You may end up liking it more than I did.

6/10

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