NEW YORK (AP) ā The star of āThe Friendā has the loping stride of Robert Mitchum and the droopy, melancholy eyes of Peter Lorre. He has those classic Hollywood features ā instantly accessible, forever unknowable ā and when he walks down the street with his co-stars, and , peopleās heads turn.
āPeople would go, āHey, get a load of the blonde,āā Murray says before acting out a double take. āGet a load of THE DOG!āā
Bing, the harlequin Great Dane of āThe Friend,ā is the latest in a long line of But unlike canine idols before him, Bing is gigantic. Toto would fit in his paw and Asta could comfortably sit on his head. David Siegel, co-director of āThe Friend,ā estimates Bing has a good 40 pounds (18 kilograms) on Watts. Gentle as he is, Bing looks more like one of those than Lassie.
āThe Friend,ā which opens nationwide in theaters Friday, isnāt your average dog movie. either. Adapted from , it stars Watts as Iris, a New York author who reluctantly inherits Apollo (Bing), the cherished companion of her late mentor Walter (Murray). Their cramped coexistence is challenged not just by the pet policy of Irisā building but by Apollo's own grief, too.
āHow creatures find each other ā what we share with other humans but also animals ā thatās where the solace comes from,ā says Siegel. āWe cast Bing to some degree for his countenance, just like we cast actors for their countenance. Does he have a face that can look sad? Does he look happy when heās happy?ā
On a recent spring day, Bing did indeed look happy, if a little worn out. He had spent the day at photo shoots and other media appearances, with his owner, Beverly Klingensmith, shuttling him around Manhattan in a van. Bingās duties, which included appearances on āThe Tonight Showā and āThe View,ā were arguably more demanding of him than his biped co-stars. In between interviews, he warmly nuzzled a reporter while a grateful publicist compared him, given the pressures of a movie marketing, to an emotional support animal.
āAt one of the Q&As, every time heād move, the audience would go, āAwww,āā said Klingensmith. āBill was like: āI told them not to bring out the dog yet.āā
But Murray and Watts have grown accustomed to being upstaged by their co-star. Not only that, as proud ādog people,ā theyāre delighted by Bing and praise him as not just a good boy but a fine actor. Murray has long maintained he wouldn't trust anyone that a dog didnāt like.
āDogs have a pretty good sense of whoās OK,ā Murray muses. āIāve met many thousands of people and thereās a real high number of people I wouldnāt trust. But as far as dogs, thereās maybe only been, like, three.ā
For writer-directors Scott McGehee and Siegel, the filmmaking duo of āThe Deep Endā and āWhat Maisie Knew,ā the prominence of the dog in Nunezās book ā a black-and-white Great Dane graces the cover ā was both a great hook for the movie and the biggest challenge in making it. When they contacted trainer Bill Berloni, he urged them to consider another breed.
āWhen you put that dog on the cover of a book that wins the National Book Award, itās got to be that dog,ā says Siegel, laughing. āBill was like, āCanāt it be another dog?ā We were like (holding up imaginary book): āLook.āā
An extensive search ultimately led them to an obedience-training club in Des Moines, Iowa. There, they found Bing and Klingensmith, who runs a kennel on a 10-acre property in Newton, Iowa, with her husband. The directors, having already looked coast-to-coast, stopped their search immediately.
āWe kind of knew right away,ā McGehee says. āHe was a little too young at the time. We thought we were going to be making the movie that spring. Then the pandemic hit. So he aged beautifully right into the role.ā
āIf you see George Clooney in person, itās like he attracts light in a special way,ā adds McGehee. āBing has that.ā
As much as Berloni tried to prep Klingensmith on what lay ahead, she acknowledges, while in the midst of a hectic publicity tour, that she didnāt fully realize what she was getting into. But Bing responded well to the filmmaking process. (A representative of the American Humane Society was also present on set.)
āHe loves to do things. The days where he had really active behaviors were his favorites,ā says Klingensmith. āAnd what dog doesnāt want to spend 24/7 with their owner?ā
Special care was taken to acquaint Bing and Watts ā not just to bring them closer but so that Watts would feel comfortable keeping such a powerful animal safe on the streets of New York. A huge amount of āThe Friendā unfolds with just the two of them interacting ā a testament to both Watts' subtle, quicksilver powers and to Bingās expressiveness.
āHe was a very curious dog and he did really look at you with attention. I found him a pure delight to work with,ā Watts says. āThe scene when I break down, if he hears crying, heās a little spooked. He picks up on everything. Heās like: āIs something wrong?āā
Can a dog act? Itās a question that might not have bedeviled philosophers or animal-rights activists, but that anyone watching a movie like āThe Friendā is sure to ponder. Murray, who voiced one in Wes Anderson's āIsle of Dogs,ā is an ardent believer.
āThe dog gives an amazing performance,ā Murray says. āWhen I first saw some of the cut footage, I realized the dog had been listening to everything thatās going on in every scene. The dogās reactions to whatās happening in the scene is better than many actors or actresses Iāve worked with. Many. Not Naomi.ā
Anytime a one inevitably worries for their fate. (There's even a website, www.DoestheDogDie.com, committed to warning moviegoers.) As a critic long traumatized by films like āOld Yellerā and āUmberto D.,ā the Will Smith movie āI Am Legendā even once prompted me , pleading it to spare the puppy dogs.
āThe Friendā plays with that tradition, bookending the movie with reflections on dog movies and an early assurance that ā unlike in the book ā the dog makes it this time. āVery early on, we were like: We cannot kill the dog,ā McGehee says.
For a movie thatās not so much about locating a solution to grief as it is about finding comfort on your way through it, itās one concession ā a bone ā to those who have suffered enough.
āPeople have lost dogs and felt like this. People have lost people and felt like this, and their only solace has been a dog. Or their only solace has been a person,ā Murray reflects. āThe movie really bangs on both sides of the animal kingdom.ā
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
