Tim Robinson has enjoyed breakthrough success in a way that few comedians have this decade with his sketch comedy show I Think You Should Leave. Friendship is his first starring role in a feature film, and the director, Andrew DeYoung, makes some key tweaks to make Robinson’s unique brand of humor work in a long-form format. These changes to the comedic formula give the movie a different set of strengths than Robinson’s sketch show, while still maintaining what’s special about him as a performer.
In Friendship, Robinson plays Craig Waterman, a middle-aged marketing executive without much going on. He and his wife, Tami (Kata Mara), tolerate each other but have very little warmth towards each other, and his relationship with his teenage son is also distant. One day, Craig meets a neighbor, Austin (Paul Rudd), whom he develops a bit of a friend crush on. But when a group hangout at Austin’s house goes horribly wrong, Austin tells Craig he doesn’t wish to continue the friendship, which causes Craig’s life to spiral out of control.
The writing in the film is very smart. Craig’s life is a house of cards from the start, and the film doesn’t shy away from showing him as deeply flawed and narcissistic. This gives the aborted friendship a bit of a “straw that broke the camel’s back” feeling, causing all the unspoken compromises and truces Craig has made in his marriage and work to fall apart. The script is pretty deliberate about how it escalates Craig’s breakdown while still maintaining some level of believability. It reopens the door for Craig and Austin to continue to interact after the “friend breakup” in particularly clever ways without it feeling forced.
Though we are presented with some very funny concepts throughout the movie, we aren’t usually building to punchlines the way I Think You Should Leave sketches do, with the film leaning more on situational humor. While this sacrifices a bit of the quotability we are used to from Robinson’s sketch show, he is still given plenty of room to find the comedy in his performance. It mostly comes out through the expressiveness of his face, and the camera lingers anytime a reaction is called for.
Friendship also tones down the absurdity from I Think You Should Leave, leaning a bit more into a sense of realism and asking its actors to carry the drama of the story as well as the humor. Here Robinson doesn’t quite fare so well – he tones it down throughout, but isn’t as talented at making the small moments work in his performance to generate empathy. Craig is certainly supposed to be unlikeable, to some degree, and it’s a little easier to laugh when it’s clear that his actions have caused his own downfall. Still, it becomes clear that Robinson is a better performer when he’s asked to go big when he’s asked to go small.
Picking up the slack on the dramatic side are two great performances from Paul Rudd and Kate Mara. Paul Rudd was born for this sort of comedy/drama hybrid role. Austin oozes charm from the get-go, but then does fantastic work when the script gradually reveals more humanity, insecurity, and flaws. We really start to empathize with Austin more so than Craig as the story progresses, even though we are placed in Craig’s perspective and narration – a testament to the great work Rudd does with more limited screen time.
Kate Mara is pretty pitch-perfect casting for Craig’s wife Tami, as we need a more dramatically inclined actress to serve as a foil to Robinson’s antics. Her line deliveries do a great job of revealing how she feels about Craig, even when so much between them is going unspoken. When she is asked to contribute on a comedic level, it’s by deadpanning lines that normally wouldn’t be played straight, and she nails it.
Friendship isn’t the type of turn-your-brain-off comedy that Robinson’s fans might be expecting. However, it does know Robinson’s strengths and highlights them, while having a strong creative voice in Andrew DeYoung and a great supporting cast that adds intelligence and subtlety. It should satisfy the I Think You Should Leave fans and those desiring a smarter kind of comedy alike.
