REVIEW: 'Friendship' Is The Best Comedy Theater Experience In Ages
A suburban dad falls hard for his charismatic new neighbor.
If there has been one trend that even the most casual of movie fans has picked up on, it's that comedy movies just aren't the same. When we grew up, you could go see a 'Superbad', 'The Hangover', 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall'. Movies so good that even the third and fourth best comedies of their release year would be the best of the last 5. Something has changed in the past 5-10 years, though. Comedy movies don't come out as often and, when they do, they just aren't good. If you ask me, streaming has changed the landscape a bit. There is a lot of funny series to watch and young people would rather watch YouTube, TikTok etc so that doesn't leave much room for movies.
However, I crave that comedy experience at a movie theater! Laughing out loud at funny stuff with your friends and strangers is one of the best entertainment experiences you can have and, outside of stand up, that experience has been going extinct. Enter 'Friendship.' This was the most laughs I've had in a theater in god knows how long. Punchlines, expressions, falls, didn't matter because everything hit. And experiencing that with a roaring crowd at the movies instead of by myself, with my lady or even with a few friends at home is priceless.
The movie is billed as Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd, but it's really just Robinson as the driver of the movie. He gives you all the classic style of humor you expect if you've seen 'I Think You Should Leave', 'Detroiters' etc. That style of humor works, but he also gives you some new stuff too which is nice. Rudd basically plays a slightly muted version of his 'Anchorman' character and Kate Mara is weirdly perfect has TR's wife.
At it's core, it's basically a more comedy-driven 'The Banshees of Inisherin' blended with the feel of a ITSYL skit. Guy loses a friendship and starts to go crazy when he can't get it back. It works! And, like I said before, the jokes work really well. I went to the theater with Feits, Robbie Fox and Klemmer for this and we've been quoting it all day.
If you are a person that, like me, wants more comedies in movie theaters then GO TO THIS MOVIE! Studios only respond to one thing and it's their bottom line. It's already looking good, considering this was only on 6 screens but placed 13th in the box office. So go watch!