Our Friend

Our Friend (previously titled The Friend) is a 2019 comedy-drama film directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, from a screenplay by Brad Ingelsby.[4] It stars Jason Segel, Dakota Johnson, and Casey Affleck.

Our Friend
Official poster
Directed byGabriela Cowperthwaite
Produced by
Screenplay byBrad Ingelsby
Based onThe Friend: Love is Not a Big Enough Word
by Matthew Teague
Starring
Music byRob Simonsen
CinematographyJoe Anderson
Edited byColin Patton
Production
company
Distributed byGravitas Ventures
Release date
  • September 6, 2019 (2019-09-06) (TIFF)
  • January 22, 2021 (2021-01-22) (United States)
Running time
124 minutes [1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$505,653[2][3]

It had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 6, 2019. It was released on January 22, 2021, by Gravitas Ventures.

Cast

Production

In January 2019, it was announced Casey Affleck, Dakota Johnson, Jason Segel and Jake Owen had been cast in the film, with Gabriela Cowperthwaite directing from a screenplay by Brad Ingelsby, based upon an Esquire article by Matthew Teague.[5][6] Gwendoline Christie and Cherry Jones were among additional casting announced in February.[7]

Filming began on February 19, 2019 in Fairhope, Alabama.[8][9]

Release

It had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 6, 2019.[10] It also was screened at AFI Fest on November 16, 2019.[11] In January 2020, Roadside Attractions and Gravitas Ventures acquired distribution rights to the film.[12] It was released on January 22, 2021.[13]

Reception

Critical response

Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes collected 97 critic reviews and identified 85% of them to be positive, with an average rating of 7.20/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Our Friend's occasionally frustrating approach to dramatizing its fact-based story is often offset by a trio of starring performances led by a never-better Jason Segel."[14] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average rating of 57 out of 100, based on 20 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[15]

Ella Kemp from The Playlist praised the performances stating: "The Friend is successfully anchored by its three leading players... The sensitivity of these performances, particularly from Affleck and Segel, offers a reckoning on sincere friendship and the limits of devotion that remains with the viewer, long after the days of waiting and the years of pain have finally come to an end."[16]

Katey Rich of Vanity Fair said: "It succeeds by sticking closely to the important specifics ... It's a small-scale human story, precious few of which make it to film these days. It's also, if you're in the market for that kind of thing, an extremely effective tearjerker."[17] While Peter Debruge of Variety wrote: "So much of the unpleasantness has been scrubbed from the picture, until what remains is precisely the kind of dishonest, sanitized no-help-to-anyone TV-movie version of death that inspired Teague to set the record straight in the first place."[18]

References
  1. "The Friend". Toronto International Film Festival. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  2. "Our Friend". The Numbers. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  3. "Our Friend". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  4. "Elevation Pictures". Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  5. Jason Segel, Dakota Johnson, Casey Affleck To Star In ‘The Friend' Deadline
  6. Huelsman, Morgan (January 16, 2019). "Jake Owen is Headed To The Big Screen With Casey Affleck & Dakota Johnson". The Bobby Bones Show. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  7. Gwendoline Christie Joins Dakota Johnson Drama ‘The Friend'; Shoot Underway In Alabama On Hot-Seller For STX Deadline
  8. Casey Affleck, Dakota Johnson star in film being shot in Fairhope WKRG
  9. "The Friend". Production List. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  10. Lang, Brent (July 23, 2019). "Toronto Film Festival: 'Joker,' 'Ford v Ferrari,' 'Hustlers' Among Big Premieres". Variety. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  11. "The Friend". AFI Fest. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
  12. Hipes, Patrick (January 23, 2020). "Toronto Title 'The Friend' Lands At Roadside Attractions And Gravitas Ventures , Will Hit Theaters In Fall". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  13. D'Alessandro, Anthony (November 23, 2020). "'Our Friend' Trailer Offers First Look At Heartbreaking Dramedy With Dakota Johnson, Casey Affleck And Jason Segel; Gravitas Ventures Sets Release Date". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  14. Our Friend (2020), retrieved 30 January 2021
  15. Our Friend Reviews, retrieved 2021-01-27
  16. "'The Friend': An Affecting Look At Love, Cancer & Heartbreaking Limits Of Devotion [TIFF Review]". theplaylist.net. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  17. Nast, Condé. "The Friend Is a Radically Empathetic Cancer Drama". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  18. Debruge, Peter (2019-09-07). "Toronto Film Review: 'The Friend'". Variety. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
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