Susan Granger’s review of “The Friend” (Bleecker Street)
Animal lovers….dog lovers, specifically…you’re gonna enjoy “The Friend,” a character study cleverly adapted from Sigrid Nunez’s National Book Award-winning 2018 meditative novel about dealing with mortality.
When celebrated writer Walter (Bill Murray) commits suicide, he leaves his beloved companion, a gigantic, black-and-white harlequin Great Dane named Apollo, to his best friend/onetime lover Iris (Naomi Watts), a stagnated creative writing professor..
Problem is: Iris lives in a small, rent-controlled Manhattan apartment that has a strict ‘No Dogs’ rule. While lonely Iris is mourning her mentor, doleful, depressed Apollo is grieving for his master – and neither is ready to fully adjust to each other’s company.
“How does one explain death to a dog?” Iris wonders.
At 150-pounds, intractable Apollo resembles a small pony, making it no wonder that none of the other women in Walter’s life were willing to adopt him. Not Walter’s two ex-wives (Carla Gugino, Constance Wu), his grown daughter (Sarah Pidgeon), nor his 3rdwife/widow (Noma Dumezweni).
As the acerbic, misanthropic, serial womanizer Walter, enigmatic Bill Murray seems perfectly cast, while Naomi Watts exudes poignant vulnerability.
Next to working with a rather simplistic, contrived script, the biggest hurdle that co-writers/directors Scot McGhee & David Siegel faced was finding the right Apollo, launching a cross-country canine search with veteran animal trainer William Berloni. Eventually they located Bev Klingensmith, a dog breeder in Newton, Iowa, whose Great Dane named Bing was perfect for the part.
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “The Friend” is a bittersweet, soulful 6, streaming on Apple and Prime Video.
