The Friend (M) – 119 minutes

If you die and you leave behind a beloved dog that is pining for you – in this case a Great Dane – what happens to that dog?

That is the conceit at the centre of heartfelt story The Friend.

Walter (Bill Murray) is charismatic, a brilliant writer and teacher who also happens to be a womaniser and deeply flawed.

He is a mentor to fellow writer and his best friend, his former student Iris (Naomi Watts), who now teaches creative writing.

Then, one day, Walter takes his own life, leaving Watts heartbroken.

Walter’s personal situation has been messy, to say the least.

There is a former wife, a daughter from another relationship, a widow and a dog named Apollo whom he adored.

The widow doesn’t want anything to do with Apollo, who is already in a shelter, and prevails upon Iris to take him.

But Iris is a cat person and the apartment where she lives strictly forbids dogs on the premises.

Still, Iris reluctantly agrees to look after Apollo for a few days while trying to find suitable accommodation for him.

It is quickly clear that like her, the dog is very sad … and, being the size he is, he proves to be quite a handful.

Try as Iris does to offload the animal, while editing a book containing Walter’s correspondence (with the help of his daughter), she bonds with Apollo.

In so doing, they grieve together and deal with their collective pain as best they can.

Based on a novel of the same name by Sigrid Nunez, The Friend is a touching, thought-provoking work.

It was in 2018 that co-screenwriter and co-director (alongside Scott McGehee) David Siegel read a review of Nunez’s novel in The New York Times.

He and McGehee read the book and were struck by its poetic eloquence, but adapting it to the big screen had its challenges.

That is because in the novel, none of the characters have names and much of it takes place in the narrator’s imagination.

So, they had to find a way to dramatise the material.

The result, I am pleased to say, is a deeply human, relatable tale.

Iris is a single, middle-aged woman who has lost her bedrock in Walter and when his dog comes into her life her equilibrium is thrown.

Watts does well in realising the nuances of her character. She wears her heart on her sleeve.

Murray is in only a few scenes, but makes his presence felt at the outset as Walter, a man who revels in the attention he receives.

Bing, the Great Dane, who has been cast as Apollo, appears to effortlessly fulfil his brief, having no problems dropping his head and looking sullen on cue.

The other standout in the cast is janitor Hektor, as portrayed by Felix Solis.

He is the one who is forced to repeatedly tell Iris that there are no dogs allowed in the building. Solis maintains a positive persona throughout and comes across as likeable, even when delivering bad news.

The production values in the film are strong. The sets and settings add to the authenticity.

While the script could have been pared back, the material is undoubtedly moving and should resonate with pet owners.

Rated M, it scores a 7 out of 10.