FRIENDSHIP : Tuesday 22nd July 2025

I saw the M Rated 'FRIENDSHIP' earlier this week, and this American black comedy film is Written and Directed by Andrew DeYoung in his feature film making debut, although he has a whole stack of Directorial credits for short films and multiple episodes of TV series including '555', 'Dave', 'Shrill', 'PEN15', 'Our Flag Means Death' and 'The Decameron'. This film had its World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in early September last year as part of the festival's Midnight Madness section, and was released in the US in late May. It has received positive reviews from critics, and has so far grossed US$17M.

Craig Waterman (Tim Robinson) is a socially awkward marketing executive working in the fictional city of Clovis, and he and his wife Tami (Kate Mara) are preparing to sell their family home. Having recovered from cancer about a year ago now, Tami is becoming increasingly frustrated with Craig’s emotional disconnection and his lack of interest in her growing flower business, so much so that she has rekindled a relationship with her ex-boyfriend Devon (John Segarra). 

A new neighbour - Austin Carmichael (Paul Rudd) has just moved in down the street. He is a weatherman on the evening news, and he drops off a gift to Tami to introduce himself. Austin invites Craig over for a beer that evening and Tami accepts on his behalf. Craig agrees, albeit reluctantly.

The pair quickly strike up an unlikely friendship, bonding over '70's and '80's music, work frustrations, and a shared sense of being unfulfilled. During their first hangout, Craig introduces Austin to his personal mantra 'just ask' which worked for him in a work situation recently. This philosophy inspires Austin to pursue his longtime dream of becoming the town’s daytime weatherman - a gig he would much prefer to working nights. Later that evening Austin takes Craig on an adventure through a hidden tunnel system beneath Clovis City Hall, and they explore it together, having a beer and a cigarette atop the City Hall building overlooking all of Clovis. 

The next day, Austin calls Craig at work and convinces him to take the rest of the day off to go mushroom hunting in a nearby bog. Craig sinks knee deep into the boggy marsh and loses his mobile phone in the process. On their way back, they pass a yellow sports car at a dealership and Austin says that if he ever buys one, Craig will be the first to ride in it. As their bond goes from strength to strength, Craig becomes increasingly enamored with Austin, and even more so after Craig and Tami attend one of Austin's punk rock shows in which he is lead guitarist and singer. Energised by the connection, Craig becomes a more mindful husband, father, and coworker.

Cracks in their relationship however, begin to appear after Austin invites Craig to a hangout with a group of his friends. Initially cordial and relaxed, the evening takes a rapid and unexpected u-turn when Craig,  escalates a friendly boxing match with Austin by landing a cheap shot which sees Austin knocked to the ground. The group recoils at this, and Craig reacts by stuffing a bar of soap in his mouth as a bizarre act of self-punishment, while attempting to apologise and make light of the situation. 

Following this incident, Austin distances himself. Craig, desperate to reconnect, visits the TV station unannounced and causes Austin to fumble his words during his first daytime weather broadcast, for which he is admonished by the news anchor. Austin formally cuts ties with Craig, who later breaks into Austin’s home while he is out and his wife Bianca (Meredith Garretson) naps, and inadvertently steals a handgun from Austin's home office.

In a vain attempt to recreate the connection he had with Austin, Craig takes Tami, reluctantly, on a manic date through the underground tunnels beneath City Hall. Tami becomes disoriented and goes missing. The Police get involved in the search, resulting in both Craig and Austin being arrested for trespassing in the tunnels previously. In jail, it is revealed Austin wears a hairpiece, a secret he begs Craig to keep. Tami is eventually found about 24 hours later, shaken but safe. 

At her welcome-back party, Craig is shunned by Tami's friends and family and upstaged by Devon in a welcome home speech. Craig invites everyone to join him in a parade for Tami, but he end up standing alone outside his house very dejected. Tami later moves into Devon’s pool house. Craig’s downward spiral goes from bad to worse - he loses a very important client pitch and suffers a public meltdown at work, resulting in his immediate termination from the marketing firm.

Some time later, Craig attempts to rebuild his life. He reconnects with his son, Steven (Jack Dylan Grazer) and buys Tami a brand new customised van to support her flower business. The family is seemingly on the mend, until Craig drives past Austin’s house and sees him hosting another guys’ night and with the yellow sports car parked outside his house. Overcome with jealousy, Craig storms the gathering, holds the group at gunpoint with the gun he stole from Austin previously, and forcibly attempts to recreate the first night they all met. When Austin attempts to wrangle the gun out of Craig’s hands, it goes off, causing everyone to panic and duck for cover. In the struggle, Austin’s hairpiece again comes off. Craig, desperate to retain this shared secret, threatens his friends to stay on the ground while Austin puts his hairpiece back on. The Police arrive unexpectedly and Craig knocks himself unconscious while attempting to flee the scene by walking headlong through a plate glass door. In the back of the patrol car, Craig imagines an alternate version of events in which nothing went awry during that initial group hangout, and everything turned out like sunshine and rainbows. Craig watches from the back of the patrol car as Austin turns and gives him a wink, and Craig lets out a beaming smile.

A comedy no matter how intentionally black or bleak it's meant to be, needs to be pretty special for me to buy into it, and as such 'Friendship' really missed that boat! Whilst Tim Robinson may have the comedic chops to carry off his TV shows 'Detroiters' and 'I Think You Should Leave' this cringe worthy, anxiety inducing, and uncomfortably absurd film feels more like an over extended version of his TV series that has long since worn out its welcome. Paul Rudd, Kate Mara and Jack Dylan Grazer largely play it straight leaving Robinson to do the heavy comedy lifting which after the first twenty or so minutes I was largely over already. The critics conversely are waxing lyrical about this film, but I just left the cinema feeling ho-hum about the whole experience. 

'Friendship' merits two claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps. 

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new at Odeon's this week : Thursday 17th July 2025

This years Fantasia International Film Festival marks its 29th edition running from Wednesday 16th July through until Sunday 3rd August in the Canadian city of Montreal, Quebec. Fantasia is a cultural and professional destination point, and since its first edition, the festival’s ever-growing popularity has attracted the attention of the international film industry alongside a legion of attendees from across the world. Every facet of the filmmaking chain is increasingly represented with in-person delegates at the festival, from Directors, Actors, Producers, studio representatives, distributors and festival programmers, who get to experience the legendarily enthusiastic, taste-making audience of Fantasia. Since its beginnings, the Fantasia International Film Festival has explored the diverse realms of genre cinema, creating bridges between the cutting edge and the mainstream, and providing a festive but professional environment where emerging artists are given exposure alongside their more established counterparts, both locally and internationally, whilst showcasing the best in Canadian and world cinema, so reads the official website.

The Opening Night feature film is 'Eddington' Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Ari Aster. In May of 2020, a standoff between a small-town sheriff (Joaquin Phoenix) and mayor (Pedro Pascal) sparks a powder keg as neighbour is pitted against neighbour in Eddington, New Mexico. Also featuring Austin Butler, Emma Stone, Luke Grimes, Deirdre O'Connell, Michael Ward and Clifton Collins Jr. The Closing Night film presentation is the adult animated comedy film 'Fixed' Co-Written and Directed by Genndy Tartakovsky. Here, Bull (voiced by Adam DeVine), an average, all-round good bloodhound dog who discovers he's going to be neutered in the morning! As the gravity of this life-altering event sets in, Bull realises he needs one last adventure with his pack of best friends as these are the last 24 hours with his balls! What could possibly go wrong...? Also starring the voice talents of Idris Elba, Kathryn Hahn, Fred Armisen and Bobby Moynihan.

The Cheval Noir Competition is Fantasia's flagship juried competition, a global selection of varied genre works from new and established groundbreaking and unconventional auteurs. This year there are thirteen feature films in this competitive section, and these are given below :-

* 'Blank Canvas : My So-Called Artist's Journey' - from Japan, and this drama comedy film is Directed by Kazuaki Seki. 

* 'The Book of Sijjin and Illiyyin' - from Indonesia and this horror offering is Directed by Hadrah Daeng Ratu.

* 'Cielo' - from the UK and Bolivia and this drama fantasy film is Written and Directed by Alberto Sciamma.

* 'The Forbidden City' - from Italy and this dramatic romantic action film is Directed by Gabriele Mainetti.

* 'I Fell in Love with a Z-Grade Director in Brooklyn' - from Japan and this comedy romance is Written and Directed by Kenichi Ugana.

* 'I Live Here Now' - from the USA and this thriller is Written and Directed by Julie Pacino. World Premiere.

* 'Mother of Flies' - from the USA and this dramatic horror fantasy feature is Directed by John Adams, Zelda Adams and Toby Poser. World Premiere.

* 'New Group' - from Japan and this horror film is Co-Written and Directed by Yuta Shimotsu.

* 'Stinker' - from Kazakhstan and this comedy Sci-Fi offering is Co-Written and Directed by Yerden Telemissov. 

* 'Terrestrial' - from the USA and this thriller comedy film is Directed by Steve Pink. World Premiere.

* 'The Verdict' - from South Korea and Indonesia and this drama thriller is Directed by Lee Chang-hee and Yusron Fuadi. World Premiere.

* 'The Well' - from Canada and this thriller offering is Co-Produced and Directed by Hubert Davis. World Premiere.

* 'The Woman' - from South Korea and this thriller film is Co-Written and Directed by Hwang Wook. World Premiere.

The Cheval Noir Career Achievement Award will be presented to Danny Elfman, who as a renowned film composer, his name merits mention in the same breath as Hermann, Morricone, Rota, and Barry. Danny Elfman has a particular perch among the pantheon, however, as the patron saint of movie music for the freaks, geeks, monster kids, and misfits among us - the very souls that haunt the darkened halls of Fantasia. Over the last forty years since his first feature film score, Elfman has set the mood, musically, for not only Tim Burton with whom he has collaborated on many films, but for a veritable honour roll of genre-film titans.

For the full synopsis of the aforementioned films, plus the other feature feature film strands, and the short film section, plus a whole bunch of other great stuff, you can visit the official website at : https://fantasiafestival.com/en

With just three new release movies coming to a big screen Odeon close to your home this week, we kick off with an American slasher horror offering that is the fourth film in this franchise and a sequel to the 1998 film, and here we find a group of friends who are terrorised by a stalker who knows about a gruesome incident from their recent past that the group would rather keep hidden. Then we turn to an American black comedy about a suburban dad who falls hard for his charismatic new neighbour, but his attempts to make an adult male friend soon threatens to ruin both of their lives. And closing out the week we have a French biopic about a French Actress of the late 19th and early 20th centuries who is at the height of her fame - an icon of her time and the world's first star, who is also a passionate, free-spirited and modern woman who defies conventions.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the three latest release new films as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release or as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are most welcome to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the coming week.

'I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER' (Rated MA15+) - this American slasher film is Co-Written and Directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, whose two prior feature film Directing offerings are 'Someone Great' in 2019 and 'Do Revenge' in 2022. This film is a sequel to 1998's 'I Still Know What You Did Last Summer' and the fourth instalment in the 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' franchise. The third film in the series 'I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer' from 2006 did not get a cinema release instead going straight to a DVD release. The first two films therefore grossed a combined global Box Office take of US$210M against a total production budget of US$41M.

After five friends - Danica, Ava, Milo, Teddy and Stevie (Madelyn Cline, Chase Sui Wonders, Jonah Hauer-King, Tyriq Withers and Sarah Pidgeon respectively) inadvertently kill a pedestrian in a car accident, they cover up their involvement to avoid consequences. A year later, as they try to move on with their lives, a stalker sends them taunting messages about their crime. Realising that the stalker is imitating a legendary serial killer, they seek help from survivors of the Southport massacre of 1997, Julie James (Jennifer Love Hewitt) and Ray Bronson (Freddie Prinze Jnr.). The film is released Stateside this week too.

'FRIENDSHIP' (Rated M) - is an American black comedy film Written and Directed by Andrew DeYoung in his feature film making debut, although he has a whole stack of Directorial credits for TV series and short films. Here, suburban dad Craig Waterman (Tim Robinson), a socially awkward marketing executive who obsessively yearns to be friends with his new neighbour Austin Carmichael (Paul Rudd), a charismatic but unfulfilled weatherman, but his attempts to make an adult male friend soon threatens to ruin both of their lives. The film had its World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in early September last year as part of the festival's Midnight Madness section, and was released in the US in late May. It has received positive reviews from critics, and has so far grossed US$16M. Also starring Kate Mara as Craig's wife, Tami and Jack Dylan Grazer as Craig's son, Steven.

'THE DIVINE SARAH BERNHARDT' (Rated MA15+) - this French and Belgian Co-Produced romantic biographical film is Directed by Guillaume Nicloux. Sarah Bernhardt (Sandrine Kiberlain), dubbed 'La Divine', became the first global celebrity. The acclaimed stage Actress broke social conventions through her bold character, leaving an indelible mark thanks to her daring personality and dramatic acting performances. The films depicts her long love affair with Actor Lucien Guitry (Laurent Lafitte) and her encounters with many famous people over three time periods in 1886, 1896 and 1916. She lived from 1844 until 1923 and died at the age of 78. The film was released in its native France in mid-December last year and has so far grossed US$3.1M.

With just three new release movie offerings this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere at your local Odeon in the week ahead.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-