{"id":1592,"date":"2025-06-06T05:43:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T05:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2025\/06\/06\/a24s-latest-film-isnt-a-crowd-pleaser\/"},"modified":"2025-06-06T05:43:04","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T05:43:04","slug":"a24s-latest-film-isnt-a-crowd-pleaser","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2025\/06\/06\/a24s-latest-film-isnt-a-crowd-pleaser\/","title":{"rendered":"A24\u2019s latest film isn\u2019t a crowd pleaser."},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>I\u2019m at the Midwestern premiere of \u201cFriendship,\u201d and I\u2019m struggling to find a seat. The Michigan Theater\u2019s cavernous main auditorium is packed with moviegoers buzzing with excited energy. As I pick my way through the crowd, I double-check my ticket. \u201cAm I in the right spot?\u201d I am. I shrug. People are more excited about \u201cFriendship\u201d than I expected.<\/p>\n<p>I hadn\u2019t found the film\u2019s early promo particularly compelling. Billed as a sparse buddy comedy with a shot-on-film \u201cindie\u201d look, \u201cFriendship\u201d seems like the most basic sort of A24 film. There was only one thing motivating me to actually go watch it: Tim Robinson (\u201cAn American Pickle\u201d). A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.freep.com\/story\/entertainment\/television\/2024\/01\/07\/sam-richardson-tim-robinson-emmy-wins-comedy-roles\/72140361007\/\">huge<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esquire.com\/entertainment\/tv\/a28340356\/sketch-comedy-2019-golden-era-netflix-hbo-i-think-you-should-leave-alternatino\/\">figure<\/a> in the sketch comedy world, Robinson is a pioneer of surreal, self-flagellating comedy. Although he\u2019s got two <a href=\"https:\/\/slate.com\/culture\/2024\/10\/detroiters-tim-robinson-sam-richardson-streaming-netflix-comedy-central.html\">highly<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/culture\/on-television\/i-think-you-should-leave-is-a-love-language\">acclaimed<\/a> TV shows under his belt, \u201cFriendship\u201d is his first leading role in a feature film. I was determined to see \u201cFriendship\u201d simply because I\u2019m a fan of Robinson. In my head, my interest in him was pretty anomalous. I mean, how popular could this guy be?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As I wedge myself into an open seat near the front of the theater, I\u2019m beginning to realize that Robinson is, in fact, <em>that <\/em>popular. Before I get the chance to fully consider this realization, the lights dim and \u201cFriendship\u201d flickers to life. The packed audience falls silent.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFriendship\u201d opens on a solemn note. The first person to appear on screen is Tami (Kate Mara, \u201cThe Dutchman\u201d). She\u2019s quietly recounting her cancer recovery to a small support group. The theater is totally silent, and we\u2019re all holding our breath. This isn\u2019t funny, right? Then, the film cuts to the person to Tami\u2019s right. It\u2019s Robinson. The camera is tight on his face. He\u2019s pale, graying at the temples, big ears and he almost looks pained. The silence stretches. Finally, he winces. The audience erupts into laughter.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>If you\u2019re unfamiliar with Robinson\u2019s particular brand of comedy, you\u2019d likely be confused. In a vacuum, that slight wince isn\u2019t particularly funny \u2014 just awkward. But within Robinson\u2019s broader body of work, it\u2019s hilarious. Robinson has built both a career and a cult following out of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=WLfAf8oHrMo\">painful awkwardness<\/a>, using it as a vehicle for a wide variety of absurd comedic vignettes. His first cringing wince in \u201cFriendship\u201d is classic Robinson. Immediately, the film makes its intentions clear: Robinson is making his movie star debut, and he\u2019s doing it with the full force of his signature disastrous awkwardness.<\/p>\n<p>As \u201cFriendship\u201d progresses, my earlier suspicions are confirmed. Everybody is here tonight to see Tim Robinson. The crowd laughs at pretty much everything he does, from his smallest acting choices to his biggest freak-outs. It\u2019s immediately clear that this film exists solely as a vehicle for Robinson\u2019s genius. In an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2025\/06\/02\/should-men-even-have-friends\">interview<\/a> with The New Yorker, writer-director Andrew DeYoung (debut) explains that he wrote \u201cFriendship\u201d with Robinson specifically in mind for the leading role.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTim\u2019s very alive. There are some performers \u2026 who just pierce through your defenses.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As I settle into my seat and the film picks up speed, I\u2019m certain that DeYoung made the right casting choice. His performance isn\u2019t just piercing. It feels measured and mature, set apart from his usually erratic work by a clearly structured narrative.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This narrative makes the entire first act of \u201cFriendship\u201d an almost effortless watch. The film opens with Robinson playing apathetic everyman Craig as he attempts to befriend his charismatic neighbor Austin (Paul Rudd, \u201cDeath of a Unicorn\u201d). Austin has everything that Craig dreams of: good friends, a cool job and innate likeability. In comparison, Craig is pretty much a total loser. He works a lonely office job and continuously fails to connect with his wife, the aforementioned Tami. When Austin randomly invites Craig over for a casual beer, Craig is elated.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-2    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>DeYoung films these early scenes between Craig and Austin like a melodramatic rom-com. There are slow zooms on Austin\u2019s face, swelling musical cues and electric moments of connection between the two men. It\u2019s clear that Craig really <em>yearns<\/em> for everything that Austin offers. Miraculously, Austin seems to like Craig, too. Craig is overly self-aware and anxious, but even his most heinous faux-pas are easily smoothed over by Austin. It\u2019s a fun dynamic to watch \u2014 Robinson brings the full strength of his weirdness to his portrayal of Craig, and Rudd tempers it easily with his own movie star charisma. Their friendship has all the flavor of a classic Robinson sketch \u2014 abstract comedy, hyper-self awareness, laugh out loud punchlines \u2014 but with the more measured narrative touch of a Hollywood screenwriter. Robinson gets to be weird in plenty of strange situations, but each of these situations exist within the broader story of a burgeoning friendship.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, this broader story crumbles about halfway through, when Austin begins ignoring Craig after a particularly uncomfortable hangout session. Initially, it seems like this plot point will also be resolved via <a href=\"https:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/SecondActBreakup\">rom-com logic<\/a> \u2014 a separation between the two should set up a third act where Craig admits his wrongdoing and recaptures Austin\u2019s affection. If only things were so simple. Instead of any reasonable conclusion, the third act of \u201cFriendship\u201d sees Craig spiraling endlessly into humiliated insanity as each of his attempts to re-befriend Austin fall flat.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>With Robinson at the helm of this film, I expected (and wanted) things to become disastrous. But there\u2019s only so much disaster that a feature film can handle. Unlike sketch comedy or sitcoms, the clock doesn\u2019t reset every 15 minutes. Viewers live with these characters for a long time, and watching Craig remain statically insane only works for so long. As the film wears on and Craig continues to make poor decisions, I feel the audience\u2019s energy around me begin to dwindle. Objectively funny bits that would\u2019ve gotten huge laughs at the beginning of the film now land almost silently. When the film ends without any sort of resolution between Craig and Austin, I\u2019m having trouble feeling anything but drained. My fellow moviegoers seem to be of the same opinion. I shuffle out of the theater surrounded by dazed silence and muted conversation.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As I step outside, I watch an older couple in front of me attempt to unpack \u201cFriendship.\u201d They duck their heads together, muttering quietly. \u201cWell,\u201d one of them remarks to the other. \u201cAt least it wasn\u2019t too long.\u201d I can\u2019t help but feel bad for them. \u201cFriendship\u201d clearly was not made with the general public in mind. Robinson is an acquired taste, and this film expects you to have <em>already<\/em> acquired that taste. Without any sort of strong central narrative, the only thing for audiences to follow is Robinson himself, who is present in nearly every scene of the film. But if you\u2019re not already familiar with his acting style and absurdist proclivities, I imagine that his mere presence wouldn\u2019t be enough to keep your attention. If I were to guess, the couple I overheard weren\u2019t the only people in that theater checking their watches and waiting for the film to end.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>You can argue that \u201cFriendship\u201d is meant to be alienating and unsatisfying. The film commits to its irregularities early on, and there\u2019s nothing wrong with that \u2014 it follows in the footsteps of many other meandering, critically-acclaimed indie-auteur works like \u201cBeau is Afraid\u201d and \u201cI Saw the TV Glow.\u201d There\u2019s merit to films like this. Their strange, ricocheting morals can force us to engage more fully with theme and character. But that surreal sort of storytelling is exactly the kind of thing Robinson is already skilled at creating<strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-3    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>We\u2019ve seen Tim Robinson\u2019s characters fail and fumble and refuse to adhere to long-form narratives. That\u2019s what he\u2019s built his career on. But we\u2019ve never seen his characters experience consequences for their actions or pick up the pieces after they fail. People packed the premiere of \u201cFriendship\u201d to see a fully-formed Robinson character, to see his performance style evolve. We wanted to see him exist within a longer, more satisfying narrative. We wanted to see him in a <em>movie. <\/em>\u201cFriendship\u201d was a chance to let Tim Robinson invent a fully-formed character. It\u2019s a chance DeYoung never takes.<\/p>\n<p><em>Daily Arts Writer Lola D\u2019Onofrio can be reached at <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/arts\/film\/cinetopia-2025-friendship-isnt-easy-for-tim-robinson\/mailto:lolad@umcih.edu\"><em>lolad@umich.edu<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<aside>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p><h3 class=\"jp-relatedposts-headline\"><em>Related articles<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019m at the Midwestern premiere of \u201cFriendship,\u201d and I\u2019m struggling to find a seat. The Michigan Theater\u2019s cavernous main auditorium is packed with moviegoers buzzing with excited energy. As I pick my way through the crowd, I double-check my ticket. \u201cAm I in the right spot?\u201d I am. I shrug. People are more excited about [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1593,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1792,1793,1055,278,1181,1794],"class_list":{"0":"post-1592","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","9":"tag-crowd","10":"tag-film","11":"tag-isnt","12":"tag-latest","13":"tag-pleaser"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1592"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1592\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1594,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1592\/revisions\/1594"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}