“Men shouldn’t have friends,” reads the provocative tagline of the uncomfortable new comedy “Friendship” (in theaters), from the writer-director Andrew DeYoung.
That tongue-in-cheek statement seems to respond to the deranged lengths Craig (Tim Robinson), a suburban father and husband trapped in a dull routine, will go to feel validated by his much-cooler neighbor, Austin (Paul Rudd).
Even as bizarre as the pair’s encounters become, an improbable but genuine loyalty develops between them in the end.
But “Pineapple Express” this is not. The last decade has seen several American indie tragicomedies that, like “Friendship,” explore complicated platonic relationships between men with insight that the mainstream brom-coms that were hugely popular in the 2000s weren’t interested in. These new films stir up a kind of bad bromance.
Movies such as “The Climb” (2020), “Donald Cried” (2017) and “On the Count of Three” (2022) interrogate toxic masculinity and approach the mechanics of male bonding with searing incisiveness, while still making time for laughs. In these stories, men grapple with regret, forgiveness and their darkest feelings as they relate to their best bros.
Kyle Marvin, left, and Michael Angelo Covino in “The Climb.” Credit…Zach Kuperstein/Sony Pictures Classics