Our Friend: Film Review
Get your tissues at the ready because, if you’re anything like me, you’re going to be an emotional mess by the end of Our Friend.
Our Friend, based on Matthew Teague’s 2015 Esquire article The Friend, tells the true and heartbreaking story of Matthew (Casey Affleck), his wife Nicole (Dakota Johnson) and their best friend Dane (Jason Segel). In late 2013, Dane travels from his home in New Orleans to visit the couple and their daughters in Fairhope, Alabama. Nicole has ovarian cancer and Matthew is overwhelmed trying to look after Nicole and the children. Dane offers to stay with them for a few weeks but ultimately ends up putting his life on hold and living with them for over a year.
Just writing that sentence about Dane’s generosity has brought tears to my eyes again! He gave up his life for 14 months, which was such a huge sacrifice and act of kindness at a dark time when friends usually drop like flies. He stayed through the good, the bad and the ugly, and until the bitter end when he didn’t have to.
The film doesn’t just focus on Nicole’s illness – the present is interspersed with flashbacks depicting certain moments of Matthew and Nicole’s marriage, Matthew meeting Dane, and what Dane was getting up to before he went to Fairhope. I must admit that I thought there were a few too many flashbacks or sometimes they were a bit too long. I also found the time jump structure very jarring at first and it took me out of the story but I got a handle on the timeline fairly quickly and it stopped bothering me as much.
The lead performances are all terrific. Affleck and Segel believably convey the exhaustion and the physical, emotional and mental toll looking after a loved one with cancer can have. I haven’t seen Segel on my screen in ages and it was so wonderful to have him back. Johnson’s Alabama accent seemed to come and go but otherwise, I thought she gave a moving performance as a sufferer who puts on a brave face for the sake of her young children. Cherry Jones and Gwendoline Christie are also excellent in their small roles.
Our Friend, directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, tells a poignant, heartbreaking story that made me very emotional. If you’re in the mood for a big cry, this is for you.
Available to stream on Prime Video from Monday 14th February. Also available to rent or buy from Apple TV+ and Sky Store