''Worst Friends'' is an American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

, written, produced and directed by Ralph Arend and starring Richard Tanne, Noah Barrow,

Kristen Connolly Kristen Connolly (born July 12, 1980) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Dana in the 2011 film ''The Cabin in the Woods'', Christina Gallagher on the Netflix series ''House of Cards'' and Jamie Campbell on the CBS series ''Zo ...

, and

Cody Horn Cody Harrell Horn is an American actress and model. She has appeared in films such as '' Violet & Daisy'' (2011), ''Magic Mike'' (2012), and ''End of Watch'' (2012), and guest starred on the NBC sitcom ''The Office'' as recurring character Jordan ...

, with

Larry Fessenden Laurence T. Fessenden (born March 23, 1963) is an American actor, producer, writer, director, film editor, and cinematographer. He is the founder of the New York based independent production outfit Glass Eye Pix. His writer/director credits inclu ...

Geoffrey Arend Geoffrey Rashid Arend (born February 28, 1978) is an American film, television, voice and theater actor. He is best known for his role as Ethan Gross on the ABC drama series ''Body of Proof'', Matt Mahoney on the CBS political drama series '' M ...

, and Kathryn Erbe. It was released on November 4, 2014.

Plot

''Worst Friends'' has been described as a dark

Indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

comedy. The film is set in an unnamed

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

suburb and focuses around a number of key characters. The film opens explaining the close but troubled friendship of two young boys. It explores the role of friendships when a traumatic incident takes place and how there can be a fine line between help and dependence. Jake ( Richard Tanne) is a young man suffering traumatic injuries after he is hit by a car. He turns to his childhood friend Sam (Noah Barrow) for support and to help him recover. A

physical therapist Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, patien ...

(

) is enlisted and begins to help Sam with Jake's recovery. Sam and Jake's friendship takes a turn for the worse when Sam's childhood sweetheart, Zoe (

), returns to town. Her presence becomes a true test of Sam and Jake's friendship.

Cast

* Richard Tanne as Jake, the lead character who suffers traumatic injuries * Noah Barrow as Sam, Jake's best friend who comes to aid him after the injury *

as Zoe, Sam's childhood sweetheart, who moves back to town following Jake's injury

Production

The concept of the plot was taken from Richard Tanne's own experiences in 2010. While recovering from an injury in his home state of

, Tanne reconnected with

filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

s Ralph Arend and Noah Barrow and the idea generated traction over the coming weeks. On July 28, 2010, the producers launched a Kickstarter campaign aiming to make $11,000 to fund the film. By August 11, 2010, the campaign had raised over $17,000. Following the online premiere of the trailer, it was announced by ''

Deadline Deadline(s) or The Deadline(s) may refer to: * Time limit, a narrow field of time by which an objective must be accomplished Arts, entertainment, and media Comics * Deadline (DC Comics), a fictional villain * ''Deadline'' (magazine), a British ...

'' that Level 33 Entertainment would be distributing the film across North America. The film was then released on November 4, 2014 through

video on-demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of ...

and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

Reception

The film received mainly positive reviews following its launch in 2014. In its review, ''

Yes! Weekly ''Yes! Weekly'' (stylized ''YES! Weekly'') is an alternative weekly newspaper based in Greensboro, North Carolina. It is published by Womack Newspapers Inc., which also publishes the Jamestown News, and which is owned by Charles A. Womack III. YES ...

'' described the film as a “loose, likeable comedy” with a “fun cast.” Actor

was singled out for “amusingly channeling

Jack Nicholson John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. In many of his films, he played rebels against the social structure. He received numerous ...

.” Videoviews.org awarded the film 3 1/2 out of 5 stars and wrote, "Worst Friends is a simple story but the acting and well-written dialogue take it up a notch." Spectrum Culture reviewed the film in 2014, stating the film covered the harsh realities of some friendships and praised the film’s opening for its effective storytelling, but ultimately only awarded the film 2 out of 5 stars.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 2951834, Worst Friends 2014 comedy films American comedy films Films shot in New Jersey 2010s English-language films 2010s American films