"The Friend"

There have been a ton of great dog movies over the years, tracing back to Rin Tin Tin who famously saved Warner Brothers Studios from bankruptcy following World War I.  He was a star and was treated like a star. 

He reportedly had his own private chef (who prepared daily luncheons of tenderloin steak) and musicians hired by the studio to play music for him to aid his digestion. He famously died in the arms of Jean Harlow who was a neighbor and friend of Rin Tin Tin’s owner (who rescued the puppy from the battlefields of France).  It was the stuff of Hollywood legend.

Audiences loved him and all the other dogs who followed in his four-footed tracks.  People love dogs.  I’ve noticed that they currently appear in virtually every commercial on television, regardless of the product or service being advertised.

I know this because my dog, Emmy runs up to the TV set every time a dog appears.

Dogs can be loveable.  Just ask fans of the Peanuts comic strip and its canine character Snoopy.  Dogs of all shapes and sizes have appeared in “the funnies.” They’re funny.  The bigger they are, the funnier they are.  Think of Marmaduke the Great Dane, whose popularity sprang in a giant leap from newspapers to the movie screen (in 2010 and 2022).

Big dogs come with their own unique set of big problems by virtue of their ridiculous size.  Comedy can be derived from what they eat, where they sleep, how they bathe and just about everything they do.

A lot of the humor in The Friend is based on the trials and tribulations of suddenly becoming the owner of a 150-pound Great Dane.  As we have seen in the trailers, the dog (named Apollo) is the oversized pet of an elderly writer, Walter (played by Bill Murray) who leaves the dog to a close friend, Iris (Naomi Watts) after he passes away.

She initially refuses to take the dog in since she lives alone in a small, rent controlled, New York apartment that doesn’t allow pets.  Besides, she makes it clear that she’s a cat person, though she doesn’t own a cat (again, no pets permitted in her building).

Out of respect for her former friend and mentor, she reluctantly takes the pony-sized pet back to her apartment in the hopes of finding a shelter that will take Great Danes. 

While The Friend has the ear markings of a canine comedy, it takes a whole other direction.  We discover that Iris and Apollo both miss Walter and are trying to cope with their terrible grief and heartbreakiing loss.  That connection is the thread that eventually binds Iris and Apollo together.

This storyline might sound a bit sappy and schmaltzy, but the gentle script and delicate direction guide the movie in a direction that avoids all the cheap shots that one might  fear.

The Friend is, at its core, a tender story about friendship and two characters helping each other through a difficult process of healing.  Yes, there are funny moments.  But there also moments of sadness and suffering.  They are perfectly balanced.

Naomi Watts and Bing (the dog who plays Apollo) bring real chemistry to the story.  Both serve up some impressive acting chops, delivering performances that encompass a range of emotions, from tortured sadness to tenderness. 

It’s a slow burner of a story, but one that never looses its footing.  Early in the film, the question arises, “What about the dog?”  Apollo’s fate is central to the narrative.  So is the fate and future of Iris whose life is rescued by an unplanned, unlikely friendship.

The problem with dog movies is that they often end with the dog dying.  It’s something that dog owners dread.  Without giving away the ending, let’s just say that The Friend spares us that tearful moment of heartbreak.  That said, you might still find yourself reaching for some Kleenex.