Our Friend

I was tempted to dismissOur Friendas just another movie about a loved one's battle with a fatal disease. Then I watched it. Yes, it's a tearjerker, but it's derived from a first-person article and has three exceptional performances

Some things remain a mystery. If we were a little bit better as people, this decent, clear-eyed movie hints, they might not.

Its strength really lies in its ability to recognize grief, in all of its raggedness and messiness, and not shy away from it.

While "Our Friend" is effective as drama - the acting is uniformly excellent - and is beautifully shot, the film pulls its punches to its, and the audience's, detriment.

Gabriela Cowperthwaite imbues the film with enormous compassion for its characters and the lead actors, especially Segel, bring endless warmth and humanity to their roles.

Our Friend spares us the gory details at almost every turn, cleaning up a story whose power stemmed, heavily, from its willingness to be gruelingly truthful about what cancer can do to the body.

Our Friend sets the bar higher for what compassion, kindness, and empathy are meant to be.

Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite allows some of the more solemn moments to truly sink in, which often makes this a tough watch.

'Our Friend' is a compelling true story of friendship and loss.

Dakota Johnson, Jason Segel and Casey Affleck are incredible together in this movie that shows how vital our best friends are.