Jeri Jacquin

Coming to DVD from director Gabriela Cowperthwaite and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment comes the story of love and friendship with OUR FRIEND.

Nicole Teague (Dakota Johnson) is a young stage actress married to Matt (Casey Affleck) and hangs out with best friend Dane (Jason Segel). Matt is a reporter for the local paper and Dane is a funny guy who is looking for, well, life. Excited for a new reporter position, Matt is covering the news of the world.

Nicole takes the family back to her hometown to be closer to family and Matt continues his career as their daughters grow. Dane is the manager of a sporting goods store and in a good relationship. When the pressures of his life become a serious crisis, he decides that getting away from it all means getting away from everyone. He is not the only one going through a crisis.

Several years later Dan takes a trip to the town of Fairhope, Alabama to visit Matt and Nicole, along with daughters Molly (Isabella Kai) and Evie (Violet McGraw) during the Christmas holiday. He sees the Teague family’s life is in turmoil and decides he needs to step in and bring a little order to it all.

Deciding to stay, Nicole comes home from the hospital and Matt takes care of her while Dane takes care of the girls staying in touch with girlfriend Kat (Marielle Scott). Watching the Teague family struggle right before his eyes, it is time for acceptance and making every moment count.

Affleck as Matt is a man that has jumped head-first into his career that is doing very well, but the cost is time away from his family. When best friend Dane tries to make it clear that he is missing out, Matt does not know how to adjust. When Nicole becomes ill, he is forced to come to terms with the years he was not around and the emotions that come with it.

Johnson as Nicole is a woman who has found love with Matt, family with her girls and a best friend that can not be replaced. Everyone in Fairhope loves her and when she becomes ill, life around her changes but she makes sure everyone feels loved. Johnson gives us those emotions but underneath that warmth is a genuine sadness that comes through and brings out the tissues.

Segel as Dane is a man who sees the world through laughter and caring. His friendship with Matt and Nicole are an important part of his life and when his friends need him desperately, it causes problems with his relationship and life. The Teague family are like his touchstone of life. Segel gives us moments of brevity, lightheartedness and reality checks.

Kai as Molly is a teenager with a long memory and takes every opportunity to let her father know that is absence has had an effect. McGraw as Evie is a darling little girl who finds Dane always amusing. Both girls know there is something wrong and its not just their mother’s illness.

Shout out to Gwendoline Christie as the hiking Teresa who Lets Dane know there is so much more to life. Also, Cherry Jones as Faith the Hospice care giver and anything Jones does I’m all in for.

Other cast include John McConnell as Glen Hattaway, Denee Benton as Charlotte, Jake Owen as Aaron, Jason Bayle as Rick Bragg, Jacinte Balkenship as Jeanette, Azita Ghanizada as Elizabeth, Sampley Barinaga as Kenny, and Ahna O’Reilly as Gale.

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has just added an amazing film to their library and making it available for us to all experience and re-experience in our own home theaters. There are films of every genre available from scary to drama to family films. For more of what they have to offer please visit www.uphe.com.

MOVIES ANYWHERE gives viewers the ability to download the Movies Anywhere App. With that you can view films by downloading or streaming to your favorite device using a Digital Code. For more information on Movies Anywhere please visit www.MoviesAnywhere.com.

Exclusive Bonus Feature on Digital, Bluray and DVD include Behind the Scenes with Cast & Crew as Filmmakers and cast including Jason Segel, Dakota Johnson and Casey Affleck discuss why they were drawn to this true story and how they work together to honestly portray the real people at its center.

OUR FRIEND is a story of the realities of life, love, friendship, anger, crisis, change, betrayal, loyalty, hope, hopelessness, fear, anxiety and all the emotions that come with things we can not control. Segel, Johnson and Affleck carry the film with such grace and respect of their characters truths that sometimes there is not enough tissue in a Kleenex box.

It is, at times, difficult to watch what these characters endure because it is so close to the reality of how things tend to work when someone is ill. The film holds nothing back by way of emotional exhaustion and the physical appearance in watching someone you love slowly stop being the person you have always known.

This story is breathtaking, heartbreaking and stunningly beautiful.

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