St. Vincent co-stars Bill Murray and Naomi Watts are briefly reunited in The Friend, a pandering would-be weeper from Bee Season filmmakers Scott McGeehee and David Siegel who are adapting Sigrid Nunez’s novel of the same name.

While New York writer Iris (Watts) wrestles with her conflicted emotions over her mentor Walter (Murray) after he takes his own life, the writer takes on the additional challenge of caring for Walter’s elderly Great Dane, Apollo. Driving home how everyone mourns in their own way, the canine carries a sadness towards his loss as well; making the initial energy between Iris and Apollo very tense and territorial. But after discussing Walter’s death with people who knew him, as well as empathizing with Apollo, Iris gradually recoups her strength and confidence.

The Friend may sucker in dog lovers and movie goers who enjoy seeing New York City in the wintertime but, otherwise, the movie doesn’t offer much else. While I can’t comment on how faithful the adaptation of Nunez’s novel is, with its heavy themes of suicide, death and the grieving process that follows, the filmmaking still seems awfully rudimentary considering most of the levity comes from Watts sharing the screen with a massive dog. Had the filmmakers been offering a fleeting slice of life (in the same vein as Netflix’s Paddleton), this approach may have been more forgivable. But The Friend nearly closes in at two hours and, with the exception of a terrific albeit late confrontation between Murray and Watts, the movie fills its runtime with lots of scenes that look and sound the same.

And, reader, I have to come clean: I found the Great Dane to be a real ordeal to spend time with. The marketing for The Friend has made Bing, the animal actor, the star of the show. But Bing’s performance in The Friend consists of the posh canine lumbering around, laying down, and staring people down with his droopy eyes. Nunez also used a Great Dane in her novel, but it feels as though the filmmakers are cheating a bit for their movie; using Bing’s large size and heavy features to cloy at the audience’s emotions. Woof indeed, Bing. Woof indeed.

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Addison Wylie: @AddisonWylie