Drama
When Nicole Teague (Dakota Johnson), 34, is diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer and it s estimated that she has just six months to live, her husband Matthew Teague (Casey Affleck) takes it hard. As he tries to adjust to the shock that Nicole doesn t have long to live, Dane (Jason Segel), the couple s longtime friend, tries to help him get through it.
Two months later, Dane decides to move into the Teague s home and put his own life his job, his apartment, his other friends on hold. When Nicole has to shave her head, Dane shaves his to match. He takes care of the Teagues two little girls when Matthew has to take Nicole to the hospital. He tends to Nicole when Matthew just can t bring himself to do it. Dane s impact on everyone is much greater and more profound than anyone could have imagined.
OUR FRIEND: 3 ½ STARS Magazines may be becoming an artifact of the past, but Hollywood still looks to them for inspiration. In the last few years a half dozen movies found inspiration in the pages of Esquire, Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, including The Friend, a new drama starring Dakota Johnson, Casey Affleck and Jason Segel and now playing in theatres and on-demand. Based on Matthew Teague s Esquire article The Friend: Love Is Not a Big Enough Word, the film uses a broken timeline, jumping back-and-forth to tell the true story of Teague s terminally ill wife Nicole and their friend-turned-nursemaid Dane. Affleck is Matt, a war correspondent with an attitude. It s Friday, says his editor, I ve been tired of you since Wednesday. He s an up-and-comer, married to Nicole, a talented musical theatre performer played by Johnson. Her best pal at the theatre is Dane (Segel) a sad sack who can t seem to get a girlfriend. It s not fair, she says. I m the only woman
Our Friend Review: Tragedy, Tears and a Testament to One Saintly BFF lmtonline.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from lmtonline.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Physically sanitized portrait of disease still packs an emotional punch
Author of the article: Chris Knight
Publishing date: Jan 22, 2021 • January 22, 2021 • 3 minute read • Yes, they re mopey, but they ve got reasons: Jason Segel and Dakota Johnson in Our Friend. Photo by Universal
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Article content
Our Friend, I still wasn’t certain if I wanted to be its friend.
The drama, based on a true story that was turned into a 2015 personal essay in
Esquire magazine, opens with the news that Nicole (Dakota Johnson) has terminal cancer and is going to die. So, not an upbeat tale. But I can handle that.
Rolling Stone Menu ‘Our Friend’ Review: Tragedy, Tears and a Testament to One Saintly BFF
A story of terminal illness, complete with tearjerking and movie stars, still manages to beat the odds and find moments of grace in its overwhelming grief
By CLAIRE FOLGER
In 2012, Matthew Teague found out that his wife, Nicole, was going to die. She’d been diagnosed with ovarian cancer; when the surgeon went in to remove tumors, however, he’d discovered that the disease had spread everywhere. Matthew was a journalist for
The Atlantic. Nicole had been an actor when they were living in New Orleans, which is where she had met Dane, a theater-tech guy; after an early, awkward moment in which he’d asked her out, unaware that she was married, the three of them became close friends.