Movie Review: ‘Almost Friends’ - An Almost Good Film

Picture Credit - Pinterest

“The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart.” 

- Elizabeth Foley

Elizabeth Foley’s above mentioned quote is perhaps a way to kind of vaguely encompass the story of this film. ‘Almost Friends’ is the story of Charlie and Amber, who are not friends, not lovers but something in between.

The movie is sweet and relatable but at the same time exceedingly underwhelming. One empathizes and identifies with the characters, but when it comes to the script and tone of the, it will almost make you sad how disappointing it is. 

Introduction 

Name of the Movie - Almost Friends

Written and Directed by - Jake Goldberger

Release date - 17th November, 2017

Starring - Freddie Highmore as Charlie Brenner

               Odeya Rush as Amber

               Haley Joel Osment as Ben

               Rita Volk as Heather

               Jake Abel as Jack

               Marg Helgenberger as Samantha (Charlie’s mom)

Duration - 105 minutes

Genre - Drama

Language - English

Synopsis - Spoiler Alert!

Charlie Brenner is a 20-something wannabe chef, who lives with his family, works at a lousy movie theatre and is practically in love with a girl (Amber) from a coffee shop. His behaviour is borderline stalker-ish as he goes to the coffee shop very often, looks at the girl but cannot talk to her, until one day when he does. 

They become kind of friends soon and begin hanging out but Amber has her own things to deal with namely; her mooching roommate/cousin Jack, her track star boyfriend Brad (played by Taylor John Smith) and her plans to move to New York to go to NYU. 

As if Charlie didn't have enough going on, his estranged father Howard returns to town, just as he is about to take a long hard look at his life and figure things out for himself. With his pile of problems, will Charlie make it or will he finally break?

About the Director 

 

Photo Credit- IMDB

Born on May 12th, 1977, Jake Goldberger is a writer, director and film producer from New York City, New York, USA. Some of his films include “Almost Friends”, “Life of a King” and “Don McKay”. Jake Goldberger is also a screenwriter and has given many interviews where he talks about his journey as a screenwriter and director. Here’s a link to one such interview- ScriptMag

About the Movie

Charlie finally gathers the strength to talk to Amber, the girl he’s been crushing on forever. Although Amber becomes all awkward and defensive at first, she and Charlie become friends after they meet each other at a party. 

Meanwhile Charlie’s estranged father returns to town and begs him to ask his mom to let him stay with them. Samantha is reluctant at first but agrees to let him stay for Charlie. Howard stays in Charlie’s room and tries to be a good father but everyone knows that he’s going to flake. 

Amber is sick and tired of her narcissistic boyfriend Brad and finds in Charlie a friend and a confidante. They hang out and spend time together. They talk about how Charlie wishes to have his own restaurant someday and how Amber was going to NYU in a few weeks.

Amber soon discovers that she is pregnant and when both Brad and her best friend do not take her calls, she decides to call Charlie who invites her to dinner at his home.A few days later they go to another party with a bunch of friends where Charlie accidentally overhears Amber talking about how unfocused in life he is.

After a few days Amber comes to Charlie’s house and he tells her what happened at the party and how it hurt him. Amber apologizes and tells him how she didn’t mean it that way.

All is well and they kiss afterwards but decide that they’ll stay friends. Many things go downhill after that but at the end Charlie decides that he’ll be moving to New York with Ben to pursue his career in the culinary arts. 

Themes Involved

The most prominent theme in the movie is that of existential crisis. Charlie is lost in life, like most of us are. Especially after he witnesses an accident, it becomes very difficult for him to go back to college or do even the tiniest of things like drive and so he stays at home, in his comforts.

The next theme is that of depression. Charlie becomes very depressed after the accident and it is his depression that curbs him from chasing his dreams even though they are quite up his alley.

Some Remarkable Scenes From the Movie 

Scene 1:

     

Picture Credit- Pinterest

Scene 2:

 

 

Picture Credit- QuotethatMovie

The Bottom Line

Like I said in the title of the article this is an “almost good” movie. With the contents of a common high-school drama the movie tries to carry on a different path but sadly fails at it miserably. It is still a one-time watch as the characters are likeable and one empathizes with them, but overall the movie is drastically underwhelming.

My ratings for the movie - 2 on 5

Written By - Sakshi Singh