Review: Naomi Watts brings sensitivity to a story of companionship in 'The Friend'

By Peter Travers

Here's a dog movie that delivers plenty of dog.

I'm talking about Bing, the 150-pound Great Dane who cedes top billing to human co-stars Naomi Watts and Bill Murray, but steals every scene in "The Friend," now in theaters where he barks and cajoles his way into your heart.

Based on Sigrid Nunez's 2018 National Book Award-winning bestseller, "The Friend" spins around the story of Iris, a Manhattan writer and teacher, played with rare sensitivity and humor by Watts. Iris is shaken by the suicide of her mentor and best friend Walter, played in flashbacks by Murray with the disheveled charm and mischief that shows him at his laid-back best.

To take his place in her life, Walter has left Iris his gentle giant of a dog, majestically named Apollo. That's hardly a convenience for Iris, who lives in a cramped New York apartment that forbids any canine on the property. Iris tells the building super (Felix Solis) that the Apollo situation is only temporary, though we know better.

Though feelings of loss and grief remain at the film's core, "The Friend" moves with a lighthearted buoyancy thanks to screenwriters and directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel ("The Deep End," "Montana Story"), as well as voiceovers from Iris that fill us in on Walter's reputation as a literary lion and not always admirable ladies man.

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Bill Murray and Naomi Watts are shown in a scene from the movie "The Friend."

All the lives of Walter are seen through the eyes of Wife No. 1 (Carla Gugino), Walter's former student; Wife No. 2 (a hilarious Constance Wu), who's writing a warts-and-all memoir about the great man; and widow and Wife No. 3 (a terrific Noma Dumezweni).

All the actors come up aces, but it doesn't take long to realize that "The Friend" is really the story of a woman and dog, punctuated with memories of the man they both loved. Even in his brief scenes, Murray gives Walter comic and dramatic dimensions, the kind that stay with you long after the film ends.

There's no doubt that "The Friend" belongs to Watts and Bing, an odd couple who become increasingly irresistible. "There's a pony on your bed," says a laughing neighbor (Ann Dowd), who spots Apollo settling in. Iris naps on the floor. But this Great Dane is way more than a sight gag. He's a living, breathing presence that gives Iris a sense of direction about where her life is going.

You're sure to get the sniffles watching Apollo snuggle up to Walter's old T-shirt. Or to hear Iris letting our her despair to her therapist, played by "Spotlight" director Tom McCarthy.

But "The Friend" is more interested in the nuances of character study than turning on the waterworks of soap opera. Shot by British camera wiz Giles Nuttgens ("Hell or High Water"), the film revels in the sights and sounds of New York that give a seasonal context to the rebirth being experienced by Iris and Apollo.

If dogs could win Oscars, I'd reserve one for Bing. The film doesn't make him into one of those talking cartoon animals who spill their feelings in sloppy gobs of dialogue. Like Iris, Bing keeps his secrets close, leaving us to intuit what's going on inside. There's a world in the space between words and barks between them. And what's there is funny, touching and vital.