It's Movie Time!
For today's movie post, we're gonna get into some heavy stuff, dude. We're going to touch on grief, love, loss, memory and just how frickin' sad life can be.
And yes there will be some sweetness and hope and maybe even a laugh or two.
It's a film about the trials and travails of human life.
And a dog's life.
From 2024, it's The Friend.
The film stars Naomi Watts and Bill Murray.
As Bing as the dog, Apollo.
At the center of our tale is Iris, a writer and college professor in Manhattan. Iris is caught up in a swirl of emotions over the death of Walter, also a writer and to Iris, a friend and mentor and once, even a lover.
Walter was quite a bon vivant, a racounteur, who regaled dinner parties with the best stories. In life, Walter was a womanizer and leaves behind a long line of ex-lovers, ex-girlfriends and ex-wives who still love the guy.
He also leaves behind a dog.
A very big dog.
Apollo is a large white black spotted Great Dane and somehow Iris has become responsible for this conspicuous canine.
Apollo is quite an unusual presence in Iris' small book filled rent controlled apartment. Apollo immediately confiscate's Iris' bed where he spends a lot of time sleeping while nestled with one of Walter's old sweatshirts.
Apollo is in mourning.
Iris is unsure what to do with the very big and very sad dog. She's got a lot to contend with. She's got classes to teach that clearly do not engage her. She has a book that she can't quite seem to finish despite desperate pleas from her editor to get it done already.
And on top of that, the housing board that runs her apartment building is threatening to evict her for having a dog, a violation of building rules.
Iris makes various efforts to get Apollo taken in by someone else but nothing seems to work.
And is it possible Iris is really ready to let Apollo go?
Iris finally figures out a way to keep Apollo and not get evicted from her apartment but to qualify Apollo as an emotional support animal, she needs to confront why she needs emotional support.
Walter didn't just die. He took his own life.
And yes, Iris has feeling about that.
And as Iris bonds with Apollo, the dog becomes a bit less sad and Iris learns to process her feelings about Walter, about his life and his death.
The "It's That Person Who Was In That Thing" Department
Noma Dumezweni as Barbara was UNIT Captain Erisa Magambo in two episodes of Doctor Who, "Turn Left" and "Planet of the Dead".
The Friend has a bit of a wibby-wobbly timey-wimey structure. Walter is dead when the movie starts but there he is entertaining dinner guests with the story of how he first met Apollo. Or joining Iris for coffee. Or in an extended fantasy sequence, being confront by Iris about how could he just kill himself like that and leave his dog alone.
Bill Murray is perfect for Walter, simultaneously a charmer and a curmudgeon.
And Naomi Watts has a lot of heavy lifting to do, approaching the role of Iris with humor and grace while dealing with a deep seated trauma.
And I cannot say enough good things about Bing who plays Apollo. Seriously, this dog can act. This is some of the best dog acting I've seen since Diesel played Rex on Hudson & Rex.
Below is a video clip from the premiere of The Friend with Naomi Watts and Bing on the red carpet.
The Friend is a movie that is sweet and sad, kind of depressing but also emotionally uplifting as well.
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