Buddy System

Understanding men and their friendships

Dr. Geoffrey Greif is a Professor at the University of Maryland School of Social Work and author of Buddy System: Understanding Male Friendships. See full bio

January 5, 2009, Gender

2008 movies not buddy films

So what happened to buddy films in 2008?

As I look back on the top films of 2008, none show men in close relationships with other men friends. Picking through the end of the year reviews, the following films are mentioned as contenders for Best film awards:

Gran Torino - solo act by Clint - he has no close friends; Revolutionary Road - Leonardo locked into solitary suburban life with Kate Winslet; Slumdog Millionaire - childhood friendships yield to adult autonomy without male friends but with a love affair with woman; Doubt - school-based angst between priest and nun; Wall-E - solo robot; Benjamin Button - more about Brad's solo stint through life in reverse and occasional hook-ups with Kate Blanchett than friendships with men; The Reader - young man coming of age and loving, then regretting, every minute of it; Vicky Christina Barcelona - Woody Allen shows two women fighting for one man; Frost/Nixon - definitely NOT a buddy flick; The Wrestler - man against himself and two women in his life; Rachel Getting Married - family dynamics at their worst...Milk - many people working together for a cause and the closest thing to a buddy film though the best friendship is between two former lovers.

Best Buddy Film of past years? let me give you three from recent eras to get you started - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; Brian's Song; Sideways.

Is this a trend? Have buddy films vanished? Maybe it is a trend as 2007 wasn't much better. (Think about No Country for Old Men and There Will be Blood).

Fathering was big in the 70s/80s - Richard Dreyfuss as good father material in Goodbye Girl (1977 Oscar); Dusin Hoffman as single dad in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979 Oscar); Henry Fonda as grandfather for On Golden Pond (1981 Oscar); Ben Kingsley as Ghandhi, the father of India (ok - that's stretching it) (1982 Oscar); Robert Duvall as drunken, soft-hearterd father in Tender Mercies (1983 Oscar).

Let's have a return to Buddy Movies in 2009.