Friendship Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Friendship Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 17, 2025

Are there laughs in Friendship? Let's put it this way: are there laughs in any given episode of Saturday Night Live? The answer in both cases might arguably be, "Sure, but maybe not enough." That Saturday Night Live reference may be especially salient due to two factors: first, star Tim Robinson had a stint on the series and he's playing exactly the sort of off kilter character that would have made for a typical recurring set of appearances in skits, a la The Church Lady or Pat. And in fact, Craig (Tim Robinson) is quite like the Church Lady and Pat, if not (in Pat's case, questionable) gender wise, then at least in his singular ability to be incredibly annoying, something that supposedly plays into the "comedy" of the film. What also makes this film play like any given Saturday Night Live outing, though, is how sporadic that comedy actually is. Some bits hit rather well, provoking at least wry giggles if not outright guffaws, but other (sometimes pretty long) stretches of the film just kind of lie there like, well, those sketches that regularly show up in Saturday Night Live's last half hour in particular.

There have been untold films made about or at least tangentially featuring so-called "male bonding", but Friendship is built upon a related but slightly different concept, the need for men to bond with each other. Craig is kind of an everyday schlub who seems to be a decent enough sort, even if he has some issues as evidenced by an opening scene where it's disclosed his wife Tami (Kata Mara) is recovering from cancer (hilarious already, right?). However, when a seeming paradigm of "Cool Bud"-ism (that's a recognized term, I'm sure), new transplant weatherman Austin (Paul Rudd), moves in down the street, Craig develops an obsession with Austin that becomes increasingly problematic.

And as those venerable Looney Tunes characters used to sign off with, "that's all, folks", in terms of the film's narrative underpinning. What ensues is a series of vignettes with Craig getting increasingly weird in order to "win over" Austin. It's what I might term "train wreck comedy", in that things are obviously horrifying at times, but that's kind of where the interest is. There are a number of dangling subplots, including Tami's affair with a guy named Devon (Josh Segarra), and Craig's work life. Laughs? Sure. A lot? Maybe not.

Note: My colleague Brian Orndorf may have been marginally more positively disposed toward the film, and those interested can read his thoughts here.

Friendship Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Friendship is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of A24 with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.66:1. The IMDb lists the Arri Alexa Mini as the camera of choice, and I'm assuming this had a 2K DI (as always with my reviews, if anyone can point me to verifiable information to the contrary, let me know via Private Message, and I'll update things here). This is a very nice looking presentation, though it has been pretty aggressively tweaked in post to resemble film, which may or may not resonate with various viewers. I found the digital grain to be more or less organic looking and it does add a nice texture to the imagery. The palette doesn't have a ton to play with, despite Paul Rudd's assertion in the "Men Talking in the Dark" supplement that everything he wore had a tinge of turquoise. That said, suffusion is great and everything looks natural due to a refreshing lack of overt grading. Some lighting choices, like the red drenched club scene, might have benefited from a 4K UHD presentation with HDR. There are occasional moments of what I've long termed "Alexa murk" in some of the most dimly lit moments.

Friendship Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Friendship features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that finds a lot of its surround activity coming courtesy of quite a few source cues dotting the aural landscape. Ambient environmental effects are somewhat limited, but some scenes like the supposed "jam session" in the garage do offer clear directionality and some nice immersion. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English and Spanish subtitles are available.

Friendship Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary with Writer-Director Andrew DeYoung, Director of Photography Andy Rydzewski and Conner O'Malley


• Conner O'Malley Extended Garage Scene (HD; 12:21)


• Deleted Scenes (HD; 8:32)


• "Men Talking in the Dark" Extended Q & A (HD; 18:46) is a fun if patently weird conversation, yep, in the dark between Eric Rahill, Paul Rudd, Tim Robinson, and Andrew DeYoung. Whoever edited this might have done better to just have stuck with the stationary camera which captured all four of the guys together. Evidently in the dark, using other cameras to try to find individual speakers was a bit of a challenge.

This is packaged per A24's standard operating procedure, with a slipcase enclosing a DigiPack, which itself encloses art cards.

Friendship Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Friendship was evidently sparked by writer-director Andrew DeYoung's one sided "bromance" with a guy he wanted to get to know better, a guy who, in DeYoung's words, "iced" him. I guess that's an intriguing enough premise to build a film around, but I found Friendship to be a definite hit and/or miss property in the comedy department, with an attendant wildly varying tone at times. This might have made for either a relatively appealing sketch (or series of sketches) on Saturday Night Live, but here as a supposedly woven together feature narrative, it just didn't completely click with me. Technical merits are first rate and the supplements appealing, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.