Tim Robinson first leading role in a film, comes here in Friendship (DeYoung, 2024) which is a comedy about, as you might guess, friendship. This isn’t to say Robbins hasn’t created a name for himself in comedic circles, he already has a successful Netflix comedy show with I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson along with appearances on Saturday Night Live. What shocked me most looking into the film after watching it is that he has no directing or writing credits in the film. It matches so closely his unique style of comedic storytelling in his television series and quite frankly couldn’t be performed in such a perfect way by another actor.
If it isn’t the case that Robinson created the content in the film, it is clear that they would only have him in mind when casting it. He has such a unique style of comedic presentation that could easily tip over into a spoof like nature or being too played too straight. Robinson managed to walk this tightrope and create something that creates great comedic moments out of ordinary situations but also create a contrived story that never feels ill conceived. His acting style at first feels like someone who has never seen someone speak or act before, its over-acted and overdone with emotion. But this is what me and many others find as the appeal to it, many of the best pieces of laughter from the film come from putting Robbins into these everyday situations where his over reaction makes a normal scene become ridiculous. This is where Robbins stands out from other comedians, his acting style is in the same line as Andy Kaufman or Alan Partridge, it brings the absurd into the ordinary in such a transgressive way. It leads to a situation where even when he mentions where he bought his coat from, it leads to a gaggle of laughter in the screening. The funniest moment for me was a situation in which he takes a drug made for him to have a wild trip but in the end just leads to him visiting a Subway until he is woken up. Its funny because it subverts the ordinary expectation of what will happen and also his overreaction to it.
As already mentioned, the film performs a tightrope act and not making it too much of a pastiche or spoof is something that the film thankfully pulls off. The film concerns the friendship between Craig (Tim Robbins) and Austin (Pull Rudd), along with his family, where the film follows the highs and lows of these relationships to him. You still get behind the story and the interpersonal relationships in the film, even with the main character hamming it up at every available opportunity. This is where Paul Rudd’s character Austin comes into it, his performance allows Robbins to pull off these great moments of comedy by matching the emotional elements of his performance but never feeling like they are in a strange alternate universe then to the one in which we live in. They follow and lead his stupid ideas but never call him out for it as if he was acting like a child as this would dismantle the comedy of his performance.
Friendship is of course at the heart of the film. Throughout it is Craig hunting for the perfect best friend who he hopes Austin can supply him with. He has no care in the world how this might impact his family as having a best friend is something that he hopes for most. His inadequacy grows throughout the film and this impact upon family isn’t necessarily what matters, what you want more than most is for him to have a best friend in Austin. You want him to suffer as it brings so much joy and laughter, but you also want them both to be best friends at the same time and escape the world in which they live in to live this strange reality together.