Naomi Watts leads this soulful New York City fable directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel.
By James Verniere/Boston Movie News
Magical animals have been a staple of world culture. From talking fish to flying horses, they have terrified and amused us in fairy tales and films. In “The Friend,” a 151-pound Great Dane named Apollo may be the reincarnation of Walter, an author played by Bill Murray. A fellow writer played by Naomi Watts, who is editing Walter’s correspondence, becomes Apollo’s last resort new owner. Unfortunately, dogs are not allowed in Iris’s West Village, rent-stabilized building, and she is on the brink of being evicted. In NYC, being evicted from a rent-stabilized building is worse than death.
OK, let’s backtrack. Based on the National Book Award-winning 2018 novel by American author Sigrid Nunez and directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel (“What Maisie Knew”), “The Friend” is a rare, literary, almost spiritual work about the ways we fill the empty spaces left behind by those taken from us by death. It begins with Walter, who lives in a Brooklyn brownstone with his third wife, coming across the Great Dane while on a run beside the East River. The majestic creature has no tag, no collar, and Walter takes it in. At a vinous dinner party, Walter’s friend Iris watches him effortlessly keep the party goers enthralled telling them about Hans Christian Andersen’s tale “The Tinderbox,” featuring three giant, magical dogs. The question hovering above all the action is: “What will happen to the dog?” We assume this was asked by Walter before he took his own life.
We accompany singleton Iris to Walter’s funeral service, where one of his friends reads a poem written for the occasion. We meet Walter’s first wife Elaine (a bewitching Carla Gugino), his most recent wife Barbara (a regal Noma Dumezweni), and his grown daughter Val (Sarah Pidgeon), whom he did not know about when she was a child. These women and two or three more are like the priestesses of the Delphic Oracle (yes, Apollo, again), the keepers of Walter’s literary, if not prophetic, flame. Iris and the charming and brilliant Walter had been lovers once, but they remained friends afterwards. In fact, Iris is seen by everyone as Walter’s best friend. And she has thus been tasked with producing a book from his collection of letters. Concerned about how slowly the work was going when he was alive, Walter asked Iris to take Val on as a co-editor. She did. Iris, who may be named after the goddess of the rainbow and messenger of the gods in Greek mythology, is Walter’s fourth widow in many ways.
One of the most amazing things about “The Friend,” a delightful fable for these magic-needy times, is the way Watts plays her scenes with Apollo, who is bigger than she is, and in whose enormous eyes one may see the doggy version of Murray’s weary, impish gaze. Two-time Academy Award nominee Watts plays her scenes with Apollo as if the dog is Walter. She talks to the creature, begging him to eat and get out of her bed. When Iris gives in to her grief over her loss and weeps, she takes you with her. We are reminded of such animal tales as “Old Yeller,” “The Red Pony,” “White Fang,” and “My Friend Flicka,” many of which do not end well. “The Friend” even features a version of Fred Neil’s “Everybody’s Talkin’” sung in a cartoon-dog-like voice by Iggy Pop. Iris takes the King Kong-sized dog for a stroll in the Village, past toy-sized poodles that skyscraper-tall Apollo does not even acknowledge. The reality is that Iris must find a new home for the big dog so that she does not lose hers.
From the Gilded Age block-sized mansion where Walter’s funeral services are held to Iris’s choice but also modest Washington Place apartment, the ferry the mourners board to scatter Walter’s ashes, and the subways that Iris rides like a Valkyrie, “The Friend” is an evocation of the spirit of New York City: its diversity, beauty, celebration of the arts, mystery, and, of course, dogs and dog parks.
Among the terrific supporting cast are the esteemed Ann Dowd as Iris’s kind but allergic neighbor, a charismatic Felix Solis as the, yes, the prince-like superintendent Hektor, and Academy Award-winner Tom McCarthy (“Spotlight”) as a benevolent therapist. As one of Iris’s writing class students, Owen Teague (“It”) is hilariously smart and dumb. Murray, who made his mark on New York City’s landmark “Saturday Night Live,” is completely believable as one of the city’s artistic giants. Watts is enchanting. Are she and a Great Dane even cuter than Steve Coogan and a Penguin? Yes.
‘The Friend’
Rating: R for language, including a sexual reference.
Cast: Naomi Watts, Bill Murray, Felix Solis, Owen Teague
Directors: Scott McGehee and David Siegel
Writer: McGehee, Siegel and Sigrid Nunez
Running time: 2 hours
Where to Watch: AMC Boston Common, Alamo Drafthouse Seaport, Coolidge Corner Theater and Landmark Kendall Square
Grade: A-
Boston Movie News 