By Matt Pascarella
Nicole Teague had a husband, two children and a friend, Dane. In December of 2012, their lives would be changed forever when 34-year-old Nicole was diagnosed with ovarian cancer that quickly spread around her abdomen. This is not a story of gloom and doom, but of friendship and happiness, before Nicole began to get really sick.
“Our Friend” is a true story based on an article written by Nicole’s husband, Matthew (played by Affleck). To help Matthew and Nicole (Johnson), their friend, Dane (Segal) moves in. What was supposed to maybe be a few weeks, turned into longer and by the end, it was more than helping. It was friendship that became family.
Matthew says to Dane toward the end, “thank you isn’t enough.”
What best sums up this movie is a line from the article written by Matthew: “One man’s collapse. And another man’s refusal to let it happen.”
There is a lot of struggles in this movie, but there is also a lot of triumph. I had no expectations going in, other than it would probably be a sad movie. It is sad in parts, but the theme of family and friendship ring louder than sadness in “Our Friend.” While the subject of cancer is integral to the story, it’s more a feel-good movie than you might think. I liked it.
Nicole is diagnosed. As her conditions worsens, Dane offers help. The movie juts back and forth to various points in time either before or after her diagnosis. You see how each family member reacts as Nicole begins to struggle more and more. At one point, Nicole announces she wants to compile a bucket list to accomplish a few key activities before she dies. Dane and Matthew work very hard to make as many of the items on that list come as true as possible. While Dane is there to make this experience easier on everyone, there is still struggle.
Parts of the movie are funny, like when Dane insists the oldest child, Molly (Kai), call him Grandma Dane and other parts are tougher to watch, like when Matthew tells his girls about Nicole or when Molly gets upset at her father who forgot to pick her up at school; she lashes out at him after realizing her mother will soon be gone.
The horrors of cancer and losing a loved one unexpectedly is something no one should ever have to experience. I put myself in Matthew’s shoes and can’t imagine what it must have felt like to lose the person you love, watching them weaken little by little each day.
Although it is a sad movie in parts, I’d recommend it. Have the Kleenex handy.
This movie is brilliantly cast, and Johnson, Affleck and Segal give Oscar-worthy performances. It illustrates the meaning of friendship and family. Two thumbs up.
Available to rent on various streaming services. <
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