Labākais draugs / Лучший друг

 

 

It's a classic New York movie about the most romantic New York professional, writing, with actors like Murray and Watts (and Bing) leading the charge. is the kind of warm, witty, and wise character study we don't get enough of these days.

 

"What’s going to happen to the dog?"
After the death of acclaimed writer Walter, one of his protégées winds up stuck with Apollo, his grieving, noble Great Dane.
But she’s unprepared for the work of taking care of a high-maintenance pet, and a no-dogs policy in her Manhattan building threatens her small, rent-controlled apartment.
As she attempts to find a new home for the dog, she confronts her own past and the unmoored state of her life.
A deeply thoughtful, beautifully acted, elegant film about our relationship to animals that becomes a powerful drama about grief, independence and the importance of finding our ways into others’ worlds.

 

That’s the main dramatic fulcrum of "The Friend", though in the end, the story is really about how the dog you’re not sure you want becomes the dog you don’t want to live without.
It’s a lovely New York movie, and spending time in its world of Upper East brownstones, Manhattan parks and Dumbo trails is a real pleasure. In the spirit of Woody Allen, Ira Sachs and Nicole Holofcener, it gently traverses the city’s literary classes – a world of blocked writers and impatient publishers, clever-clever dinner party chat and therapy meltdowns. And it pulls it off without feeling pretentious. "The Friend" is a poignantly affecting watch that mostly earns its emotional payoff, delivering gentle laughs along the way. It’ll have them howling in the aisles at the next dog-friendly screening.