It’s all too clear that Almost Friends skims over crucial coming-of-age topics such as parental neglect, teenage pregnancy, and emotional distress. In his third feature film (following Don McKay and Life of a King) Goldberger presents this coming-of-age story as a comic drama and hosts a range of emotions from gentle to downright frustrating. Parts of the film definitely exhibit witty quirkiness and gentle handling, but it gets lost in the aimless directing and unshocking performances.
Despite how talented the cast is, their performance makes the story hard to grasp, especially when it comes to the character of Charlie (Freddie Highmore). In his twenties, Charlie is a classic example of someone who is working towards a goal but feels lost, but this film fails to convey how passionate he is about food. Yes, other characters talk about his skills, hinting something must have damaged Charlie’s drive, but they do a horrible job selling the existence of Charlie’s talent.
Unlike other shows he has worked with, like The Good Doctor and Bates Motel, Highmore’s character needs some time to acclimatize to his surroundings. At first, Quiet stutterer Charlie has a lot of difficulty trying to converse with high school senior Amber (Odeya Rush) at the coffee shop, his mannerisms bordering on awkward. Following this phase, the actor begins impersonating Hugh Grant and shifts his focus on Charlie, implying that there is a lot more to him than his self-effacing demeanor suggests. Between all these characters, there exists some wonderfully subtle yet striking understory chemistry that is constantly underlying the action around them. Undeniably, Osment makes the most of the limited and under-appreciated role of Charlie’s favorite sidekick, Ben.
Charlie is currently stuck in limbo waiting to pursue his dreams due to no longer having the luxury of working as an assistant manager at a revival house. While he is active on social media and hangs out with his friend Heather (Rita Volk), he is self-aware enough to feel shame about it. The recently popularized concept of a “stepdad”, as annoying as it usually is, Charlie’s stepdad is rather sensible which is disconcerting to him and his friends, especially after the rather drastic return of Howard (Chris Meloni), Charlie’s father, from his long vacation.
Howard is a seasoned gambler and a liar, and even though it is ludicrous that he manipulates his way back into his ex-wife’s home for a third time, as odd as it sounds, Meloni does manage to portray the charm that enables him to do so, which adds much-needed drama to the otherwise mundane events.
With the presence of Charlie starting to emerge from his hibernation, Howard’s presence, along with his burgeoning friendship with Amber, is also helping make the difference. Complicating the seemingly simple dynamics between the two is her deeply committed relationship with her boyfriend, Brad (Taylor John Smith), who is described as a track star, and is shockingly self-centered, making him the poster boy of the script’s blatant redundancy. Jack, Amber’s slack cousin, adds to the picture of the ensemble cast of protagonists in a passive role something that Goldberger repeats throughout the novel (this film was first called Holding Patterns). The character who mostly stays drunk is also a shadow of Howard a charming but repulsive jerk Abel portrays him in a way that is deliberately uncomfortable.
Approximately one hour into the film, the reasoning behind Charlie’s detour is revealed and it makes emotional sense. The scene is well-acted by Highmore and Rush, and Goldberger seems to deal with it in a very delicate and understated way. Nonetheless, when the film expresses an essentially interesting idea of how we can sabotage our lives doesn’t it seem superficial? Though Almost Friends takes place in Mobile, Alabama, and has many unfamiliar features, the story of misplaced and reclaimed dreams fails to succeed.
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