‘Friendship’: The Tim Robinson Movie That’s Not Really a Tim Robinson Movie

We’re so starved for comedy that people are hailing the grimly-lit, shambling Tim Robinson vehicle ‘Friendship’ as the funniest film in ages. That’s not to say the movie isn’t funny. There are big, awkward laughs throughout. A payoff to a fantasy sequence toward the end is one of the funniest moments in any film, ever. But compared with comedies from the genre’s last golden age in the aughts, like Anchorman, Superbad, Role Models, or even the very dated I, Love You Man, which Friendship superficially resembles, this movie is an indie rock album, or an Adult Swim skit. I’m not sure if it’s a profound statement on male loneliness, or if it’s a narrative version of Too Many Cooks.

FRIENDSHIP ★★★ (3/5 stars)
Directed by: Andrew DeYoung
Written by: Andrew DeYoung
Starring: Tim Robinson, Paul Rudd, Kate Mara
Running time: 97 mins

Though Tim Robinson is all over this movie, in nearly every scene, this is not, in fact, a Tim Robinson vehicle. The writer and director Andrew DeYoung has been directing TV comedies for the last decade, with episodes of shows like Dave, A.P. Bio, Pen15, and Our Flag Means Death to his credit. But Robinson has such a signature awkward style as a comic writer (and actor) that even the slightest reaction shot turns Friendship into an I Think You Should Leave sketch. This works both to the benefit and detriment of Friendship, which seesaws between Robinson’s manic energy and DeYoung’s more mopey vibe. On the one hand, Robinson  wrings laughs out of scenes that, in other hands, would seem creepy and pathetic. On the other hand, you find yourself wishing for a quicker Dan Flashes-like payoff that rarely comes.

Robinson plays Craig Waterman, a dull suburban nebbish who lives in what appears to be Pennsylvania, or least the Pennsylvania of the mind. He’s completely average, working a terrible office job for a company tasked with making products more addictive on phone apps, married to a cancer survivor (Kate Mara), who inexplicably uses a landline to manage her home flower-arranging business. His life changes for both the better and the worse when he becomes obsessed with befriending a cool weatherman, played by Paul Rudd, who moves in down the street. Rudd, who, despite his Marvel fame, is a comedy man at heart, plays a version of his Anchorman Brian Fantana character, slightly gone to seed.

This is the story, but the plot never makes much sense. Robinson and Rudd hang, have a little bromance, and then it all goes horribly wrong. It seems like Robinson is stalking Rudd for a while, but then Rudd sort of lets him back in, only to boot him out again. A subplot about Mara’s relationship with a former boyfriend lingers around the edges, but never really pays off, and we can never tell exactly what’s up with their teenage son. At times, it feels like DeYoung has almost arranged the scenes randomly. Comedy guest stars like Jon Glazer and Conner O’Malley float in and out of view.

Friendship is an interesting commentary on the decline of male identity. Craig always seems vaguely like a guy who would go through the Severance procedure, almost by accident. Rudd’s character Austin collects things, plays in a rock band, is on TV, and yet is also masking some deep physical and emotional insecurities under his hip, mustachioed bravado. Robinson is almost like Rudd’s id, blindly consuming the Internet, not having any real interests, skills, or hobbies, stumbling through a bad marriage with a not-very-nice woman who’s way out of his league, neutered as a dad. He’s the modern American man personified.

The movie falters, though, because in its quest to explore the sadder, weirder corners of masculinity, it gives up any pretense of coherence. It exists as a kind of virtual dream, like an awkward Instagram Reels crush. But as an extended almost-Tim Robinson sketch, also starring Paul Rudd, it’s great.

Friendship has been a festival darling. It premiered in Toronto, played at Sundance, and I saw it at South By Southwest. A24 plans to release it on May 9 in theaters. I can’t imagine it’s going to find a broad audience. Maybe I’m reading the culture wrong, and this is the beginning of a great comedy film Renaissance. If we’re trying to find the guy who did this and give him a spanking, it would be Tim Robinson.