Title: Our Friend
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Gabriela Cowperthwaite
Starring: Jason Segel, Dakota Johnson, Casey Affleck
Runtime: 2 hrs 4 mins

What It Is: Nicole (Johnson) and Matt (Affleck) Teague are a lovely young married couple. Matt is a newspaper man and Nicole a stage actress the two of them are more then in love. They adore one and other. When Nicole is struck with cancer the fight is on. With a little help from their friend Dane (Segel) the couple will try to navigate the diagnosis. But what happens if they fail? What happens if the worst case scenario should occur?

What We Think: This is something that is wholly emotional. It doesn’t come off as fake or placated it is simply pure emotion. From the well structured and realistic script to the wonderful performances this is a simply wonderful film. Nothing comes off as manipulative or try hard. All of the emotions are genuine. I’ve not seen Dakota Johnson this…real. This…authentic. Casey Affleck is the perfect partner for her here and he is practically perfect. Segel’s character, though somewhat annoying, is well written and really good. I don’t think there’s much in the way of unique shots or overly ambitious camerawork. What is there is a classic tearjerker that earns it’s tears.

Our Grade: B, I cannot state more plainly that if you’re a crier and you need a good cry well look no further. As a film it’s a wonderful character study of both Nicole and Matt but moreso on Dane. It explores the role people can play in our lives even when they aren’t our “real family”. That a real family is chosen. See this film and do so with the precautions I’ve given you. If you’re doing so you’ll get a really great film that is well directed and makes for a perfect evening with someone or ones you love.