Amitié surprise

It's nice to see Billy Crystal on the big screen again. This film is like spending two hours with an old friend. With that being said, the film is quite good in parts, but the sum parts don't add up to a great film.

Crystal plays a comedy writer who is experiencing the beginning stages of dementia. He keeps this from his family and tries his best to hide it from everyone at work. Tiffany Haddish plays a woman who cashed in on an auction her ex boyfriend won to have lunch with the famous writer. This is despite not knowing who he is and ultimately insulting him frequently. She addresses him as "old man." To make matters worse, a food allergy lands her in the hospital and Crystal gets stuck with the bill. Oddly, a close friendship develops.

Haddish's initial over the top characterization of this woman is ill conceived. We later learn that she is some sort of jazz subway singer. She eventually becomes the voice of reason for Crystal and a major player In his life. But through it all, she never quite becomes a cohesive believable character.

Flashbacks are frequent as Crystal imagines his deceased wife. These are always awkward as the wife seems to be the exact same age in every flashback and Crystal's voice is only heard.

The film has some touching moments and the relationship between Haddish and Crystal does evolve into a sweet friendship. But the schmaltzy moments between Crystal and his family toward the end detracted from their story. The film needed more focus as it tried to cover too much ground in 2 hours.

This is a review so I'm nitpicking. Overall, I did enjoy the film and especially Billy Crystal's fine performance. I believe most audience members will too.

This is a sweet and somewhat sad story of a man played by Billy Crystal who is in the earlier stages of dementia, mourning the loss of his wife, and forming a friendship with a woman played by Tiffany Haddish. The friendship is really sweet and there are nice moments of humor interspersed with the sadder stuff. His grief for and connection to his late wife is the most moving of all. Have tissues on hand.

Ignore all the pseudo bored sophisticates who call this sentimental lovefest nonsense. It's a real look at what it means to be family and how we deal with the things we regret as we get older. Yes, some of it falls flat and yes, some of the family scenes seem to move a little too quickly. But it's well intentioned and worth a sit through.

You know who doesn't like this? Jaded critics who think an entertaining movie is mediocre because of things like pacing, or a minor plot hole and assume that such things ruin a good time. Go see it. Bring tissues.

This was a great movie! It's not giving away anything to say that you will laugh, cry, and grow to love these characters over the two hours. The comedy and classic Billy Crystal one-liners we're the perfect balance to the struggles of an aging gentleman trying to maintain the life he has built over his 40 year career. Tiffany Haddish, in previous roles, can come off as an over the top, stereotypically black-woman-with-an-attitude. But in this movie she plays the perfect new-age comedy yin to Crystals's tried and true 80s/90s classic comedy yang. My wife, I, and the other couple we watched this movie thoroughly enjoyed it and I think you will too.