The Friend: a 'graceful' but flawed dog movie

Naomi Watts stars in 'intelligent' adaptation of Sigrid Nunez's book about a 'problematic pooch'

Naomi Watts in The Friend
Naomi Watts in The Friend
(Image credit: FlixPix / Alamy Stock Photo)

From "Turner & Hooch" to "Beethoven", "the tale of a reluctant owner falling in love with a problematic pooch has played out many times on the big screen", said Dulcie Pearce in The Sun. "The Friend" is the latest addition to the canon. It stars Naomi Watts as Iris, a writer who is reeling from the suicide of her friend and literary mentor Walter (Bill Murray, glimpsed mainly in flashback) when she discovers that he has bequeathed her his dog, Apollo. Unfortunately, she lives in a "tiny" New York flat – and Apollo is "a 150lb Great Dane" who has become "deeply depressed" since his master's death.

There are some predictable odd-couple flare-ups, said Robbie Collin in The Daily Telegraph. Apollo chews up half of Iris's belongings – including her "abortive second novel" – and commandeers her bed. She finds herself "wondering what on earth her late confidant thought she could do for this dog", but of course it turns out that Walter "was more intrigued by what the dog might do for her". Sadly, the answer is neither profound nor exciting: indeed, "seldom has a film ever felt like it's trying so hard not to be interesting".

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up