TORONTO, Canada—Tim Robinson’s characters are socially inept weirdos who don’t recognize that they’re incapable of properly existing in society and grow furiously frustrated when their craziness is thrown back in their face.
With his Netflix sketch series I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson, the comedian has perfected a particular brand of pathetic-yet-hostile strangeness, playing office drones, TV hucksters, and suburban husbands and fathers (among others) who are oblivious to (or disinterested in following) the tenets that govern human interaction. They’re the creep who says and does the wrong thing at the absolute worst time, makes everyone intensely uncomfortable, and then exacerbates the situation by bizarrely apologizing, doubling down, or freaking out.
Premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival, Friendship is Robinson’s first attempt at expanding his persona in a feature-length project, and it’s as feverishly and hilariously demented as one would expect. Pairing him with Paul Rudd in a story about male need, camaraderie, and obsession, Andrew DeYoung’s film is full of trademark circumstances, stunts, and screams that fans of the star’s small-screen effort will instantly recognize as more of the same.
