It’s no secret that Tim Robinson and his singular brand of off kilter comedy isn’t for everyone. Who it’s for will let you know, as the fan base of Robinson and his series “I Think You Should Leave” are extremely outspoken and devoted. This made “Friendship” the hottest ticket of TIFF overall and one of the most difficult tickets to secure for Midnight Madness. I was thrilled that I was able to snag one to the premiere at the last minute, only for that excitement to be whisked away 15 minutes into the new film. It’s not that “Friendship” is bad – it’s easily the funniest film of the year – just that Tim Robinson existing isn’t a strong enough premise to carry a feature film. And further proof that his off brand style of comedy works best in episodes punctuated by short bursts of situational sketches. Stretched out over 90 minutes however and the brand stops being fun and quickly becomes exhausting. “Friendship” is a litmus test of how much uninterrupted Robinson you can stand.
Make no mistake, “Friendship” is laugh out loud funny, but whatever you were sold as a feature film rapidly disenegrates as you start to realize that it’s not really about anything at all outside of an elongated showcase for Robinson’s comedic styling. I assure you, that is not as fun as it sounds, and no matter how many laughs per minute “Friendship” generates it starts to become grating the longer it rinses and repeats itself without any narrative framework to hold it all together. On paper, Andrew DeYoung’s film is about awkward app developer Craig Waterman (Tim Robinson) who’s new neighbor is weatherman Austin Carmichael (Paul Rudd) whom Waterman adores. Desperate to get to know his local news celebrity, a friendship quickly forms between the two. But Craig’s own obsession and desperation gets the better of him, leading Austin to end the bromance as quickly as it began. Unable to cope, Craig goes to extreme lengths to get his new friend back, leading to life disrupting consequences.
Honestly, if “Friendship” was actually its synopsis, I’d find it infinitely more enjoyable. The problem is as quickly as the ideas come they are discarded for more of Robinson to run episode bits. Nearly everything in the summary becomes secondary, relegated to the background so DeYoung can let Robinson run wild with non sequitur sketches more suited for a show than a movie. “Friendship” devolves deeper and deeper into episodic madness and only once in a while tries to remind itself it needs to be a feature length film. The longer it does this, the less “Friendship” is about anything at all. Nothing matters, not even the loose narrative because “Friendship” is just a really long episode of Robinson’s show and a vehicle to see how long people will tolerate the car ride. It is tailor made for existing fans and makes no effort create new ones. If you aren’t already familiar with or on board with Robinson, “Friendship” will be an intolerable movie going experience.
I wish I had more to say about it, but because it’s not really a movie it doesn’t really qualify for a full review. Robinson is as unhinged as ever, with “Friendship” unshackling him entirely and letting him do whatever it is he does. Rudd is fine, a decent pairing with Robinson but surprisingly measured in his performance and not on screen nearly as much as you’d expect given the weak premise. Kate Mara as Waterman’s wife is also just fine, but like everyone else the are relegated to forgettable side characters in the Tim Robinson Gone Wild showcase that “Friendship” becomes. The truth is, I should be all over something so singular and self aware. DeYoung and Robinson know exactly what they want to do and what they are doing, and I’m usually in the corner of such self assured filmmaking.
But for all the laughs to be had in “Friendship,” it’s not a movie. It’s a very long Robinson meltdown, something more suited for the small screen instead of the big one, and that’s just really hard to fully get behind even when it seems like (on paper at least) something I should be ecstatic over.
You’ll laugh til it hurts but still check your watch regularly, and I just don’t really know what to do with something like that. So ya, “Friendship” is the funniest movie I can’t stand and hope to never sit through again.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 Stars
“Friendship” is in theaters May 9th. You can watch the trailer below.
