''Our Friend'' is a 2019 American

biographical drama A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudra ...

film directed by

Gabriela Cowperthwaite Gabriela Cowperthwaite (born 1971) is an American/Brazilian filmmaker. She has directed documentaries and feature films, and she also produces, edits, writes, and directs for television and documentary films. Her films often deal with social, cultu ...

and written by

Brad Ingelsby Brad Ingelsby (born January 4, 1980) is an American screenwriter and film producer. Ingelsby is the son of basketball player and coach Tom Ingelsby and Rose Ingelsby. His brother Martin Ingelsby is also a basketball coach. Ingelsby grew up i ...

, based on Matthew Teague's 2015 ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

'' article "The Friend: Love Is Not a Big Enough Word". It stars

Jason Segel Jason Jordan Segel ( ; born January 18, 1980) is an American actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his role as Marshall Eriksen in the CBS sitcom ''How I Met Your Mother'', as well as for his work with director and ...

Dakota Johnson Dakota Mayi Johnson (born October 4, 1989) is an American actress. The daughter of actors Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith, she made her film debut at age ten with a minor role in the dark comedy film '' Crazy in Alabama'' (1999) with her moth ...

, and

Casey Affleck Caleb Casey McGuire Affleck-Boldt (born August 12, 1975) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award and a Satellite Award. He be ...

. The film had its world premiere under its original title ''The Friend'' at the

2019 Toronto International Film Festival The 44th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 5 to 15 September 2019. The opening gala was the documentary film '' Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band'', directed by Daniel Roher, and the festival closed with a ...

on September 6, 2019, and was released on January 22, 2021, by

Gravitas Ventures Gravitas Ventures is an independent film distribution company owned by Anthem Sports and Entertainment. The company was founded by Nolan Gallagher in Los Angeles, California in 2006 and moved its headquarters to Cleveland, Ohio in 2019, where it f ...

. It was a

box-office bomb A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...

, only grossing $714,255 on a $10 million budget.

Plot

In the winter of 2013, Matt and Nicole Teague prepare to tell their daughters, Molly and Evie, that Nicole's

ovarian cancer Ovarian cancer is a cancerous tumor of an ovary. It may originate from the ovary itself or more commonly from communicating nearby structures such as fallopian tubes or the inner lining of the abdomen. The ovary is made up of three different ...

terminal Terminal may refer to: Computing Hardware * Terminal (electronics), a device for joining electrical circuits together * Terminal (telecommunication), a device communicating over a line * Computer terminal, a set of primary input and output devic ...

. Outside, their best friend Dane Faucheux keeps the children company. In a flashback to 2000, Matt, a journalist, and Nicole, a theater performer, live in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

stand-up comic Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories ...

. The three become close over the years. In 2008, Matt and Nicole reside in Fairhope with their daughters. Matt works as a war correspondent and spends months overseas, putting a strain on the family. Meanwhile, Dane remains in New Orleans working

dead-end job A dead-end job is a job where there is little or no chance of career development and advancement into a better position. If an individual requires further education to progress within their firm that is difficult to obtain for any reason, this ca ...

s. On

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden ...

, Dane, unhappy with his life, decides to

backpack A backpack—also called knapsack, schoolbag, rucksack, rucksac, pack, sackpack, booksack, bookbag or backsack—is, in its simplest frameless form, a fabric sack carried on one's back and secured with two straps that go over the shoulders ...

at the

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon (, yuf-x-yav, Wi:kaʼi:la, , Southern Paiute language: Paxa’uipi, ) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a ...

without telling anyone where he is going. Another backpacker recognizes his potential

suicidal Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and subs ...

behavior and offers support. Her gesture of kindness, plus an unexpected voicemail from the Teague family, renews Dane's will to live. In 2010, Matt discovers that Nicole had an affair. With Dane's help, they reconcile their relationship. Dane returns home where he works as a manager at a sporting goods store and begins dating a woman named Kat. In September 2012, Nicole receives her diagnosis and begins to undergo

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemothe ...

. Recognizing their need for help, Dane offers to stay with them for a few weeks. However, as Nicole's condition worsens, Dane decides to remain with them, taking on many household duties. Kat struggles to understand Dane's loyalty to the Teague family after weeks turn into months, and they break up. On

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

, Nicole ruptures her abdomen, and Dane is left to watch over the girls. Following her surgery, the doctor reveals to Matt that Nicole's cancer has spread and gives her approximately six months to live. Nicole decides that she does not want to tell their daughters until her

quality of life Quality of life (QOL) is defined by the World Health Organization as "an individual's perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards ...

declines significantly. Nicole prepares a bucket list which Matt and Dane help her accomplish; such as sitting as Grand Marshal of the

Mardi Gras Mardi Gras (, ) refers to events of the Carnival celebration, beginning on or after the Christian feasts of the Epiphany (Three Kings Day) and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday, which is known as Shrove Tuesday. is French for "F ...

parade, swimming in a historic fountain with all of her friends, and writing letters to her daughters for future life events. As 2013 closes and Nicole becomes sicker, they decide to tell their daughters and Dane listens on in sorrow as the girls cry. By the summer of 2014, Nicole becomes increasingly irritable,

hallucinates A hallucination is a perception in the absence of an external stimulus that has the qualities of a real perception. Hallucinations are vivid, substantial, and are perceived to be located in external objective space. Hallucination is a combinati ...

, and experiences pain. Realizing that Matt is overwhelmed, Dane takes him hiking. Upon their return, Matt realizes that they are no longer equipped to care for Nicole so he calls a hospice nurse, Faith Pruett. Nicole's friends and family visit with her one last time. One night, Faith alerts them of Nicole's slowing heart rate, and they take her to the beach to watch one final sunrise. Returning home, Nicole dies with Matt and Dane at her side. Following Nicole's funeral, Dane confines himself to his room and grieves alone. Matt writes an article called "The Friend", which he gives to Dane. Dane finally decides to go home after putting his life on hold to live with the Teague family for over fourteen months. Matt embraces Dane, expressing that simply saying "Thank you" isn't enough. In the

epilogue An epilogue or epilog (from Ancient Greek, Greek ἐπίλογος ''epílogos'', "conclusion" from ἐπί ''epi'', "in addition" and λόγος ''logos'', "word") is a piece of writing at the end of a work of literature, usually used to bring c ...

, it is revealed that Matt's article won an award in ''

'' magazine and that he and his daughters remain in Fairhope. Dane remains close to the Teague family and marries in 2019.

Cast

as Matthew Teague *

as Nicole Teague *

as Dane Faucheux *

Jake Owen Joshua Ryan Owen (born August 28, 1981), known professionally as Jake Owen, is an American country music singer, songwriter, and actor. Signed to RCA Nashville in 2006, he released his debut studio album, ''Startin' with Me'', that year. This ...

as Aaron *

Gwendoline Christie Gwendoline Tracey Philippa Christie (born 28 October 1978) is an English actress who is best known for portraying Brienne of Tarth in the HBO fantasy-drama series '' Game of Thrones'' (2012–2019). She is also widely known for her role the Fi ...

as Teresa *

Cherry Jones Cherry Jones (born November 21, 1956) is an American actress known for her roles on screen and stage. She has received various accolades for her performances in television and theatre including three Primetime Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, th ...

as Faith Pruett *

Denée Benton Denée Ayana Benton (born December 31, 1991) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her performance as Natasha Rostova in the 2016 musical '' Natasha, Pierre, & The Great Comet of 1812'' on Broadway, for which she was nominated ...

as Charlotte * Isabella Rice as Molly *

Violet McGraw Violet Elizabeth McGraw is an American child actress. She began acting at the age of five, with her debut credited role being a recurring role in the 2016 television series ''Love (TV series), Love'' as Nina, and her first feature film being in ...

as Evie *Marielle Scott as Kat *

Ahna O'Reilly Ahna O'Reilly is an American actress. She is best known for her role in the film '' The Help'' (2011). Career O'Reilly began her acting career in 2003 in the film, ''Bill the Intern''. She has appeared in several other movies like '' Dinocroc'', ...

as Gale *

Azita Ghanizada Azita Ghanizada is an Afghan-born American actress. She is known for her films and television series. She debuted her career with a short film entitled A kiss on the nose, in which she played the role of Ciara. Ghanizada is also the founder and ...

as Elizabeth *Sampley Barinaga as Kenny

Production

In January 2019, it was announced

and

had been cast in the drama film ''The Friend'', with

directing from a screenplay by

, based upon an ''

'' article by Matthew Teague.

and

were among additional casting announced in February. Filming began on February 19, 2019, in

Fairhope, Alabama Fairhope is a city in Baldwin County, Alabama, United States, located on the eastern shoreline of Mobile Bay. The 2020 Census lists the population of the city as 22,477. Fairhope is a principal city of the Daphne-Fairhope-Foley metropolita ...

Release

The film had its world premiere at the

on September 6, 2019. It also was screened at

AFI Fest The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...

on November 16, 2019. In January 2020,

Roadside Attractions Roadside Attractions is an American production company and film distributor based in Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of ...

and

acquired distribution rights to the film. It was retitled ''Our Friend'', and released on January 22, 2021.

Reception

Critical response

Review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

reported that of critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of . The site'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."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

assigned the film a weighted average score of 57 out of 100, based on 20 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". 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." 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." Conversely, Peter Debruge of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' 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." Sheila O'Malley, writing for

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

's film criticism website, gave it a 3 star rating.

References

External links

*
"The Friend: Love Is Not a Big Enough Word" (Esquire article that served as source for film)
{{Gabriela Cowperthwaite 2019 films 2019 biographical drama films 2019 drama films American biographical drama films Black Bear Pictures films Drama films based on actual events Films about cancer Films based on newspaper and magazine articles Films directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite Films scored by Rob Simonsen Films set in Alabama Films set in New Orleans Films shot in Alabama Films with screenplays by Brad Ingelsby Scott Free Productions films STX Entertainment films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films