The Friend
When Iris's (Naomi Watts) old writing professor and author Walter (Bill Murray) dies, his current, third wife Barbara (Noma Dumezweni) tells her that he'd chosen her to take his beloved Great Dane Apollo (Bing), something which takes Iris by surprise as not only had he never mentioned it but she isn't allowed a dog in her rent controlled Manhattan apartment. But once she learns Barbara, who doesn't like dogs, has put Apollo in a kennel, Iris brings him home, hoping to place him with a rescue group. As time goes on, however, not only do Iris and Apollo bond over their shared grief, but she learns a lot about the man who left them and why so many women are jealous that he considered her "The Friend."
Laura's Review: B+
This is a movie that seems to begin with a simple premise, then slowly evolves into some much deeper and richer than the first half suggests.
Writer/directors Scott McGehee & David Siegel ("The Deep End," "Montana Story"), adapting Sigrid Nunez's novel, utilize an expertly cast large ensemble to flesh out various aspects of Iris's life. Playing Apollo, Bing seems to actually act, the dog's face expressing deep sadness, his physicality demonstrating calm, potential danger, comedy and the effects of aging.
Murray fans do not fret if you believe he leaves the movie too early, as he appears frequently in flashback, one of which, a dinner scene in which he relates how he found the abandoned Apollo during a jog seated on a hill 'between two bridges against a limpid sky,' a story his friends have apparently heard often. Suddenly we are at the man's funeral, a favored anecdote of his, 'The more suicidal people there are, the less suicidal people there are,' apparently a forewarning. Gossip abounds as the bereft Iris meets up with Walter's first wife Elaine (Carla Gugino), neither impressed with his latest, and the daughter, Val (Sarah Pidgeon), whose mother is a mystery and who is working on a collection of her dad's correspondence with Iris, a book his publisher Jerry (Josh Pais) is now pressuring them to finish.
Later, after a New York Harbor cruise to scatter Walter's ashes (during which Apollo's mournful howl will break your heart), Elaine will express her jealousy over the fact that Iris managed to stay friends with Walter, despite the brief fling Elaine guessed happened between her ex and friend. 'He left you his glorious steed!' she declares about the enormous dog Iris is still at odds over. As Iris interacts with more and more mutual acquaintances, we'll see that Walter was a charming rogue, a womanizer, which does cast his relationship with Iris, who he'd declared his 'best friend,' in a special light. Gender norms are also debated in Iris's college class where Carter (Owen Teague), whose fiction runs to 'Game of Thrones' style fantasy, critiques Jenna's (Annie Fox) female protagonist as 'too ordinary.'
It is easy to see that Iris will fall in love with Apollo, who she is distraught to learn is already considered old at the age of 5 or 6 and wryly amused to discover loves to be read to, her father's old opera records not having done the trick (other than to lend an additional air of melancholy to the film). But her building super Hektor (Felix Solis) is on her case and neighbor Marjorie (Ann Dowd) throws an intervention of sorts during a New Year's Eve party when Iris is threatened with eviction.
The filmmakers will have us hold our breath more than once in the film's last act, one which features a delightful cameo from "Spotlight" director Tom McCarthy and a literary flight of fancy, one which allows Iris to meet up with Walter one last time to answer some burning questions as well as one that's been repeated throughout - 'What's going to happen to the dog?' Watts and Bing work splendidly together, the Great Dane comically dwarfing her during their walks about the city, their awkward sleeping arrangements finally coalescing in mutual comfort. "The Friend" refers to all three as they navigate the benefits, pitfalls, joys and loss of their relationships in a film that builds in emotional power.
Robin's Review: B+
Iris (Naomi Watts), a creative writing teacher and author, has lost her best friend and mentor, Walter (Bill Murray), to suicide. Unknown to her, he bequeathed to her a very special companion named Apollo in “The Friend.”
While Bill Murray is given co-billing with Naomi Watts, this engaging drama (with comedic interludes) belongs to Watts and her other co-star, Apollo (Bing), a very large, speckled Great Dane. For Watts, it is a character study of grief, loss and confusion as she tries to cope with the sudden, unexpected loss of her friend.
The monkey wrench in the works of her hectic life comes in the guise of Apollo, who Walter assigned to Iris to care for. There are a couple of problems, though. For one, her rent-controlled apartment does not allow pets. For another, she is neither equipped or prepared for a canine ward that is bigger than she is/
Right from the start, Apollo, who misses Walter dearly, lapses into grief, taking over Iris’s bed, holding onto a Walter-scented old shirt, not eating and moping for his deceased master. The story is about Iris dealing with her own grief while trying to gather Walter’s emails and correspondence for a book – and care for Apollo. Besides the drama at home, she is also under pressure from her publisher to finish the book on Walter.
While there are quite a few comic moments with Iris and Apollo coping with each other, the story is mainly about losing a close and intimate friend – both for Iris and Apollo. The filmmakers create a real chemistry between woman and dog. At first, she is intimidated by the very large animal, giving him free reign as he takes over her bed and her life. But, you know in your heart that all this will change.
Naomi Watts, as I said, owns the film with her very believable performance as a writer stuck with writer’s block for her own work. She is under more pressure from losing Walter and the introduction of man’s-best-friend in her always hectic life. The actor envelops the character so well that I believe that she is Iris, Bill Murray is more a symbol than participant in the story, seen mainly in flashback but also with a fantasy element. Bing, with his handsome face and stately manner, is announced early on as a magical dog, and that is what he is. He is a good boy!
Bleecker Street releases "The Friend" in select theaters on 3/25/25, wide on 4/4/25.
