When a couples life comes crashing down around them, their best friend selflessly puts his own life on hold to help them in their hour of need.
Jason Segel really comes into his own in films like this; playing emotional characters, lonely underachieving characters like in Jeff Who Lives at Home, he is funny and incredibly vulnerable. This time around, Segel plays Dane Faucheux, an underachieving man in his 30s who puts a halt on his life so he can move in with his friends, Matthew, and Nicole Teague (Casey Affleck and Dakota Johnson), who have received the devastating news that Nicole has cancer. Dane hopes to help his best friends in any way he can, it also gives him a chance to escape his own unfulfillments in life. It shows some difficult moments, with trust and honesty being key themes throughout. It highlights the strength of family and friendship, through thick and thin. A definitive tearjerker that gets you in the feels, there must have been a lot of dust floating around when I watched this is all I will say.
This “comedy” drama (it could have done with more light-hearted comedy, just to soften the blow slightly) is directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, known for previous films such as Blackfish and Megan Leavy, and based on a true story – albeit with some major dramatization – the real Matt Teague by all accounts had issues with how it glamorized the story slightly. It offers a small scale look at a very humanistic story; a tight knit family (spearheaded by three incredible lead actors) fighting this disease as a team. There was some gorgeous drone footage littered within the film as well, orchestrated by Joe Anderson, that highlighted the vibrancy of New Orleans. I loved the fact that Led Zeppelin are a key musical accompaniment throughout as well, Segel’s character even claims they are overrated. Well, you’re overrated Jason Segel – although, that isn’t true, I like him a lot to be honest.
Our Friend starts with a present day look at the event in question, with the Teague’s having a heart-breaking conversation with one another and preparing to tell their children. The film then reverses back 13 years in time to where it all began – it moves very fluidly through the different timelines, exploring their lives before, during and after the diagnosis. Nicole Teague is a stage actress who works with Dane, and Matthew is a writer for a local newspaper. Dane is disappointed that the girl he likes from work fancies someone else, leaving him reeling about another moment of underachievement. He is taken out for a drink by Nicole and Matthew – the latter of whom has found out he has been offered a high-end writing job for a big paper. We fast forward now to a year after the diagnosis as Matthew waits in the hospital with his wife, Dane is looking after the kids as well as the fated dog which also has the dreaded c word – it never rains but it pours. The two men decide that Dane should move in to lessen the load at home.
Our Friend jumps back and forth through timelines; we see Dane’s friendship with Matthew go from strength to strength, countered by the downfall of Nicole as she becomes weaker and weaker, mentally, and physically. It is incredibly sad at times; as a mother struggles to face the inevitable, she attempts to tick things off her bucket list which involves bonding more with her children through letters, as well as wanting to sing with Katy Perry. It could happen. There are some unexpected twists and turns that nearly derail their whole lives, a marriage on the rocks, and a lonely camping trip for Dane. There he meets Teresa (Gwendoline Christie) who keeps him company – she recognizes the signs in Dane’s life that once troubled her so much. The film progresses towards the dreaded finish line, the moment everyone feared has creeped up on them like a ghoul in the night. All of them must now face the ill-fated moment and learn to live on the other side.
This film really does explore the disease that is cancer extremely well. How it affects the person involved, physically and mentally – it is the mental ways that are often glossed over in films about the subject, it is a breath of fresh air to see how cancer can alter someone’s personality and mindset quite rapidly. It explores the change it can have on family members and friends, everyone pooling their resources together on the path to acceptance. I really liked this film, it doesn’t take much for me to start welling up when watching something sad, but this was genuinely upsetting, and you felt for everyone in it. The acting is superb from the three leads; Affleck, Segel, and Johnson really ramped their emotions up a notch and the result is an extreme believability. It is not a comedy drama like 50/50 was, there were no laughs on my end, it could have worked with that system – Segel is a great comedy actor – because it is so heavy. I’m glad they didn’t though, it works on multiple emotional levels as it is.
Our Friend is available to watch on Amazon Prime now.
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