Charlie (Freddie Highmore) is an unmotivated man who lives at home with his mother (Marg Helgenberger) and stepfather while working at a small movie theatre and living vicariously through his best friend, Ben (Haley Joel Osment). His life takes an unpredictable turn however, when he finds himself falling for local barista Amber (Odeya Rush). Problem is, Amber has her own distractions: her mooching roommate (Jake Abel), a track star boyfriend (Taylor John Smith) and steadfast plans to move to New York City. On top of that, Charlie's estranged father (Christopher Meloni) unexpectedly re-enters his life just as he begins to take a long, hard look at where he's going and who he wants to be. With conflict after conflict piling on, will Charlie reach his tipping point or will he finally find the path forward?
On August 18, 2015, it was announced that the production on comedy-drama film Holding Patterns was underway, starring Freddie Highmore, Odeya Rush, Haley Joel Osment, Rita Volk, Jake Abel, and Taylor John Smith.[2] Jake Goldberger was directing the film from his own screenplay, while Alex Ginzburg and Tony Lee would be producing the film through Let It Play, with Jim Young producing through Animus Films.[3] On August 26, 2015, Christopher Meloni and Marg Helgenberger joined the film's cast to play Howard and Samantha, respectively, and Gary Ray Moore also joined the cast.[4]
In October 2017, Gravitas Ventures and Orion Pictures acquired distribution rights to the film, and set it for a November 17, 2017, release.[6]
Reception
Box office
Almost Friends has grossed a total worldwide of $46,376, and sales of its DVD/Blu-ray releases have cashed $16,355.[1]
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, Almost Friends has an approval rating of 29% based on seven reviews, with an average rating of 5.1/10.[7]
In a positive review, Marjorie Baumgarten of the Austin Chronicle wrote, "[The film] has an easygoing charm that should earn it a solid place among the subset of movies about young people who emerge from their small-town cocoons and screw up their courage to take flight for the bright lights of New York City."[8] Sheri Linden of The Hollywood Reporter described it less favorably as "a comic drama that's sometimes appealingly gentle but more often frustratingly amorphous" with "instances of wit and sensitivity scattered through the screenplay, but they have no cumulative impact amid the lackluster direction and general dearth of urgency."[9] Upon the film's theatrical release, Katie Walsh of the Los Angeles Times called the film's premise of Highmore's character, Charlie, tenuously pursuing a relationship with Rush's Amber despite her existing relationship, "painfully tone-deaf" in light of the onset of Me Too movement, suggesting it "feels like a relic of a bygone era, when movies could casually present stalking and coercion as acceptable forms of courtship."[10]
^Sheri Linden (November 17, 2017). "'Almost Friends': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Billboard-Hollywood Reporter Media Group. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
