Movie Review

Naomi Watts struggles with death and big dog in The Friend

Naomi Watts and Bing in The Friend.

Photo courtesy of Bleecker Street

Films that deal with grief typically focus on the impact death has on the friends and family of someone who dies. However, any animal lover will tell you that losing an owner, or even a fellow animal, can be equally traumatic for a pet. The new film The Friend tackles such a situation in empathetic and unexpected ways.

The story mainly focuses on Iris (Naomi Watts), a writing professor whom we soon discover is one of the many ex-wives of Walter (Bill Murray), a fellow professor who has just died by suicide. At his funeral, we are introduced to two more ex-wives, Elaine (Carla Gugino) and Tuesday (Constance Wu), his current wife, Barbara (Noma Dumezweni), as well as his daughter, Val (Sarah Pidgeon), the result of yet another relationship.

Barbara tells Iris that it was Walter’s wish for her to take Apollo, his Great Dane, a request to which Iris reluctantly agrees despite having a small apartment and a building rule against owning dogs. Not only is Apollo close to immovable due to his immense size, it’s readily apparent that he misses Walter tremendously. Iris must deal with her complicated feelings about Walter’s death alongside the need to care for a dog to which she is becoming increasingly attached.

Written and directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel, the film is a meditation on grief that somehow never feels overly sad. Part of the reason is that Walter is mostly a side character who only appears in a few scenes, and that each of the women in his life view him as someone to both love and loathe. But while Iris and the others try to figure out what Walter’s death means to them, Apollo has no such misgivings, demonstrating his feelings through his actions (or lack thereof).

The main arc of the film involving Iris and Apollo is underscored by a variety of side plots, including Iris and Val trying to honor Walter using his own words, Iris constantly getting threatened with eviction over presence of Apollo, and the push-and-pull between Walter’s wives about things left undone or unsaid following his unexpected death. Flashbacks to scenes between Iris and Walter give a glimpse of their unique bond, as well as smaller details that color her feelings toward Apollo.

While the film remains interesting and watchable throughout, there seems to be something missing to put it over the top. It could be that we only know the women through their relationships with Walter, with little stories of their own. It could be the bland title, one whose subject never becomes clear. Or it could be that it needed to go even deeper than it does, removing some of the lighter moments to truly understand the dilemma that Iris is facing.

While Watts has continued to work, notably appearing in two harrowing films in 2022, she’s been somewhat under the radar in recent years. She gives a compelling, if understated, performance here, keeping focus even when Apollo threatens to take it away. Murray always makes for a nice presence, although his impact is limited here. Gugino, Wu, Dumezweni, and Pidgeon each get a few opportunities to show their skills, but it would have been nice to see more out of each of them.

Apollo (real name Bing) has soulful, sad eyes that bring an extra dimension to The Friend, a film that confronts death in distinct ways that are hit-and-miss overall. The story is far from bereft of emotion, but a few tweaks here and there could have made it even more powerful.

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The Friend is now playing in theaters.

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Movie Review

Andrew Garfield leads peasant rebellion in medieval film The Uprising

Photo by Betina La Plante/Focus Features

Andrew Garfield in The Uprising.

Writer/director Paul Greengrass made his name with a cinéma vérité style of filmmaking that brought immediacy and depth to three Jason Bourne films, United 93, Captain Phillips, and more. In The Uprising, he uses those skills to tell the story of the so-called Peasants’ Revolt in 14th century England.

Greengrass wastes no time starting the main plot as Ploughman (Andrew Garfield) and his fellow villagers object to onerous taxes put on them by the country’s nobility, led by the young King Richard II (Woody Norman), to fund an ongoing war. Ploughman initiates a violent response over the tone-deaf — and unseemly — way the king’s guard go about their business, and the rebellion soon starts to spread across the countryside, with the citizens looking for a degree of autonomy.

The ever-expanding group makes their way toward London to try to make their case to the king himself. Meanwhile, the king’s top advisors, including Archbishop Sudbury (Stephen Dillane) and Treasurer Hales (Tom Hollander), try to usurp power from the inexperienced monarch even as the king’s mother (Katherine Waterston) tries to get him to be more assertive.

The history of the English monarchy is long and lurid, as Shakespeare detailed in multiple plays, including Richard II. Though the events in the film took place almost 650 years ago, it’s easy to see parallels between what the peasants were fighting for and modern-day politics. Greengrass’ storytelling intent is solid, and the righteous anger the citizens feel is initially relatable and palpable.

But the populism theme of the story soon gets bogged down in drudgery and minutiae that is difficult to understand, especially when the details are lost in the thick regional English accents. The leaders of the rebels — including John Ball (Jamie Bell), Wat Tyler (Cosmo Jarvis), and Alyce (Thomasin McKenzie) — are shown doing a lot of planning, but the strong feelings they have about their quest don’t come across well, leaving the audience as passive observers.

When there is action, Greengrass and his team employ a frenetic style that is not great for comprehension. While the gist of what is happening and what side is winning is legible, individual moments go by so quickly so as to be nearly meaningless. Save for Ploughman, any connection that has been made with various characters proves futile, as Greengrass doesn’t seem to have any time for emotion. Scenes that should feel thrilling or heartbreaking instead come off as empty.

Garfield is a two-time Oscar nominee who has done great work across multiple genres. He’s fine in this role, but whether it’s the story, the filmmaking, or something else, he’s not as captivating as usual. The same goes for other strong actors like Bell, McKenzie, Dillane, Hollander, and Waterston, who each seem to be giving their all to their performances but are somehow muted in the process.

Done right, The Uprising could have been a rip-roaring account of people standing up against their oppressors. What Greengrass has made, though, is a film that can’t translate its medieval story for a modern audience and concentrates too much on unexciting elements and too little on thrilling ones.

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The Uprising is now playing in theaters.

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