FILM REVIEWS:
FRIENDSHIP (USA 2024) ***
Directed by Andrew DeYoung
Premiering at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival’s Midnight Madness Section, FRIENDSHIP is that rare non-horror, non-violent, non-action-packed piece that makes it into that special section. FRIENDSHIP is, though, a very odd bromance comedy that works occasionally, most of the time, which is a waste. Pacing is the main issue, with the film containing slow pauses of movement with bouts of tedium that, if absent, would have lifted the film several notches.
FRIENDSHIP is about film, obviously about friendship, or its failure as one such friendship falls apart, leading to an individual’s life totally falling apart.
It all starts with the meeting of the two males forming a friendship. When an errant delivery pulls suburban dad Craig Waterman (Tim Robinson) into the orbit of his mysterious and charismatic new neighbour Austin Carmichael (Paul Rudd), a sweet bromance seems to blossom over an innocent evening of urban exploration, punk rock, and a mutual appreciation for paleolithic antiquities. But what should have been the start of a beautiful friendship is soon waylaid as Craig’s obsessive personality begins to alienate his new pal, subsequently inducing a spiral that threatens to upend Craig’s entire life.
The film has problems with pacing from the very start. The first seven have Austin’s wife speaking in a group therapy session involving her recovery from her cancer. She talks about orgasms, which is echoed by the male person beside her. It gets confusing as the male is later revealed to be her husband. It is also a problem that the cancer recovery does not really affect many of the incidents that follow. Another problems is the ending as writer/director DeYoung seems indecisive as to whether his protagonist Craig ends up a likeable or unlikeable person, He shows Craig finally at peace with his wife after a disastrous incident and the 3wo looks as if they are reconciled waiting to have sex, only to be followed by another incident which results in Craig being taken away in a police cruiser.
Paul Rudd has star credits in the film, though he has only a supporting role, not to mention that he is mostly unrecognizable with his moustache. The star of the film is Tim Robinson. Despite the script’s occasional and directional flaws, he is the one who steers and holds the film as a whole. He plays the man-child Craig with control and emotion, balancing humour and dramatic tragedy.
FRIENDSHIP has received largely rave reviews from both audiences and write alike, but truth be told, there are flaws in the film’s delivery and pacing. The film contains too many parse slow and sections that break the flow of the story’s momentum.
FRIENDSHIP, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last year, makes its debut in theatres on May 15th. It could have been a straight-to-TV movie except for its bold and strange theme. The one thing that stands out in the film is the lead, Tim Robbins, as Craig, the man-child so desperate for a friend that he puts his family second to that.
Trailer:
THE OLD WOMAN WITH THE KNIFE (South Korea 2025) **
Directed by Min Kyu-Dong
The reason South Korean action thriller made such a splash at the recent 2025 Berlinale, THE OLD WOMAN WITH THE KNIFE, is likely because it is based on the much-loved South Korean novel of the same name by Gu Byeong-Mu.
The old woman who goes by many names like Nails, Grandma, and Hornclaw is largely an aged assassin at the age of 65 in the film. She has seen her heyday when she was a top-notch killer who disposed of her victims under an agency that gets paid and pays her to kill insects or vermin of society, like drug dealers and other assorted villains. Hornclaw feels the aching weight of all her experiences and losses. In a body that isn’t as strong as it used to be, she works to carry out her remaining kill contracts and hopes that her name won’t end up on a target list one day. Fate strikes its ugly hand when a job goes wrong, sending her straight into the lives of a young doctor and his family, awakening desires long dormant inside her. And at her age, it doesn’t feel worth it to ignore them anymore, even if it means making herself vulnerable to certain ghosts from her past.
Hornclaw’s life is like that of other film assassins like JOHN WICK, who are loners. Her only friend is an old dog she has rescued. The segments with the dog that bring tenderness demand mention. Hornclaw occasionally forgets to feed her, forgets to leave her water, but never for very long. And much to Deadweight’s credit, she never seems to hold a grudge against her owner. Before Hornclaw leaves for a job, she cuddles and talks to her, almost ritualistically. “So when the time comes, get out of here and go where you need to go. Before you’re considered worthless, even though you’re still alive.” Hornclaw says this to Deadweight, as though the dog can understand her verbal instructions to leave their home, should she fail to return from a job alive. There’s a feeling, however, that Hornclaw sees herself in Deadweight. It’s like a prayer, something the reader can imagine she’s told herself, every time she feels dismissed as old, frail, and insignificant. And even though she tries to prepare the dog for the very real possibility that she won’t return, she still says “I’ll be back” each time she leaves. She is reassuring herself as much as she is the dog, and that’s a tender and vulnerable thing for a contract killer to do. The audience learns that it was with similar tenderness that she was first, as a young girl, indoctrinated into the world of for-hire killing.
Director Min directs the action set-pieces with finesse, on par with Hollywood blockbuster action films. But here the film fails in the storytelling. Laboured by too many flashbacks, many too confusing moving to and from the present to the past, the story appears too confusing, despite its relative simplicity. The animosity between the young killer, named Bullfight, and Hornclaw does not work that well either.
THE OLD WOMAN WITH THE KNIFE — a Berlinale & Brussels Selection opens in theatres in the U.S> and Canada May 16th.
Trailer:
