“Oh, this could make a good comedy”: Andrew DeYoung shares his inspiration behind what inspired the movie Friendship and more

Andrew DeYoung's directorial debut, Friendship, opened wide today after a limited theatrical release in the United States earlier this month. The black comedy was received well, and Tim Robinson's portrayal of Craig Waterman was praised by the critics.

DeYoung also wrote the film, and the character Craig is inspired by his own experience. He shared this in his recent conversation with The Hollywood Reporter. Regarding this, he told the publication that,

"It was less of a breakup and more of a desire to hang out with a person that wasn’t received in the way I wanted it to be. I caught myself getting pissed off that the person didn’t respond to me. I then thought my reaction was pretty pathetic, and I was like, ‘Oh, this could make a good comedy: a middle-aged man trying to be friends with another middle-aged man.’"

In the film, Craig Waterman is trying to develop an unlikely friendship with Paul Rudd's character, Austin Carmichael, a local meteorologist at a news channel. It goes well until a boxing match, which creates a crack in their friendship and Austin distances himself. That is where Craig's desperate attempts to rekindle this relationship begin.

Friendship has themes similar to What About Bob? and The Banshees of Inisherin

The essence of DeYoung's movie is that the lead character is trying to get his newly made friend back after certain events, as mentioned above.

Putting this into perspective, What About Bob? isn't exactly the same but it sure does feature similar elements. For example, Dr. Leo Marvin (Richard Dreyfuss) is Bob Wiley's (Billy Murray) newly referred psychotherapist. They aren't exactly friends, but Bob does develop a friendship with Leo's family anyway.

On the other hand, The Banshees of Inisherin is indeed about friends. It shares more similarities with DeYoung's film. The only thing is, the two leads, Colm Doherty (Brendan Gleeson) and Padraic Suilleabhain (Colin Farrell), are already best friends in it.

Colin Farrell's character is continuously seen trying to rekindle his bond with his best friend, Colm, who thinks Padraic is an extremely boring person. The tragicomedy takes things to an extreme when Padraic eventually becomes enraged and driven by revenge.

While the two films aren't based on any personal experiences of respective directors, Martin McDonagh (The Banshees of Inisherin) and Frank Oz (What About Bob?); the common thread is that of one guy trying to hold on to his friendships and might I add, rather hilariously.

Austin was Brian first but DeYoung had to change the character's name

You might already have deduced what's coming here. Paul Rudd asked DeYoung to change his character's name, as he has played a similar character before. Keeping the original name would have created confusion as if this is a crossover or something. DeYoung told The Hollywood Reporter,

It’s a pretty good name. So who knows why I chose Craig and Brian, but Brian is the name of his Anchorman [local newsman] character. So when Paul signed on, he was like, “Just to avoid any crossover or confusion between the two, can we change it?” And I was like, “Sure, that’s fine.”

Let me refresh your memory. Paul Rudd played the lead field reporter of a San Diego television station, Brian Fantana, in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004). And in case you'd forgotten, he wore that ultra-women-repellant cologne called S*x Panther. Because,

"60% of the time, it works everytime."

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That role was entirely different, though, but that could certainly have given rise to some theories among the fans regarding a potential link between Rudd's character in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and Friendship.

Keep reading Soap Central for more updates like this.

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