Film

Drinking Buddies

Name: Drinking Buddies
Genre: Romance, Drama, Comedy
Released: 2013
Cast: Olivia Wilde, Jake Johnson, Anna Kendrick, Ron Livingston, Ti West

A film about two brewery coworkers whose easy chemistry and constant drinking together becomes impossible to ignore when the question of whether they're just friends finally matters. Mostly improvised, shot in natural light, it's a grown-up look at how attraction and ambition and existing relationships all tangle together. For people who find tension more interesting than resolution.

TMDb rating

3.0

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy slow-burn romantic comedies where the attraction is mostly in what people leave unsaid, and where naturalistic, improvised-feeling conversations do more work than plot.

Skip it if you want clear stakes and a steady build, since much of the film is loose hanging-out, and its romantic tension may feel frustrating rather than charged if you prefer things resolved on screen.

What it asks of you: Ninety minutes of patient, low-key observation, with long stretches of talk and few big set pieces, so it rewards staying put and reading faces.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Before Sunrise1995

Two strangers spend one night walking and talking through Vienna, flirting without quite admitting it. Like Drinking Buddies, it trusts conversation and chemistry over plot, and finds profound romance in ordinary uncertainty.

But Very slowly paced, almost plotless. If you need dramatic turns or a clear endpoint, this will feel like watching someone else's date.

Begin Again2014

A film composer and a newly single woman reconnect through music and work, circling attraction while real life complications keep pulling them back. It has the same loose, improvisational feel and the same question: what does timing mean?

But The romance comes with guilt and messy entanglements that don't resolve tidily. Some find it frustrating rather than realistic.

Appropriate Behavior2015

Desiree Akhavan's portrait of a woman navigating friendship, attraction, and identity in New York. Funny, smart, built on awkward real moments. The same indie sensibility, the same sense that life is mostly small talk and miscommunication.

But Very much of a specific moment and place. If queer Brooklyn indie comedy doesn't appeal, nothing here will persuade you.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Drinking Buddies

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

High Fidelity2000

Both are about people who know exactly what the problem is and choose not to solve it anyway. The difference is that High Fidelity is about someone looking backward at patterns, while Drinking Buddies is about someone living the pattern in real time.

Stephen Frears directs John Cusack as a record-store owner scrolling through his past relationships and realising why none of them worked. It's about chemistry and self-knowledge and the difference between wanting someone and being good for each other—the exact moral core of Drinking Buddies, but inverted: here the person knows what's wrong, and can't help themselves anyway.

But Deeply of its era, both in style and in how it thinks about masculinity and relationships. The quirk can feel dated.

Crazy, Stupid, Love.2011

Manages to be both funny and genuinely romantic about why people make the choices they do. It's more plotted than Drinking Buddies but shares the same warmth about imperfect adults trying to figure out what they actually want.

But Structured as a crowd-pleaser. If you find crowd-pleasing mechanics cynical, it can feel manipulative even when it's working.

The Good Place2016

A show about people hanging out together, getting to know each other, and finding that attraction and friendship are not actually separate categories. Sharp writing, real chemistry, and it respects your intelligence.

But It's network television, which means it eventually swings toward bigger mythology questions. Some find that disappointing.

Like Crazy2011

Shot mostly handheld and improvised, about a couple navigating distance and doubt. If you loved how Drinking Buddies caught the mundane texture of how people actually talk, this extends that into a relationship over time.

But Uneven and sometimes self-indulgent. The handheld style can feel precious rather than honest.

Chungking Express1994

Two separate love stories that never quite land, told in a burst of colour and impulse. Like Drinking Buddies, it's fascinated by the moment when you realise you want someone, and by how often you don't say it.

But Very stylised, very 1990s Hong Kong cinema. If you prefer narrative clarity, the dreamy logic will frustrate you.

Under the Tuscan Sun2003

A woman rebuilds her life abroad and stumbles into unexpected connection. It shares Drinking Buddies' interest in how people grow and change around each other, and in the space between friendship and something more.

But Pitched at an older, more romantic audience. Can feel saccharine if you're allergic to mainstream sentimentality.

About a Boy2002

A confirmed bachelor gets tangled up with a single mother and her son. It's funny and awkward about how companionship sneaks up on you, and how your life changes when you stop planning for it.

But More broadly comic and less interested in ambiguity. If you loved Drinking Buddies for its refusal to smooth over the difficult bits, this softens them.

To Be and to Have2002

Both are films that trust observation over incident. They believe that the way two people sit together, the way they look at each other, the quiet moments between things—that's the whole story.

A documentary about a one-room schoolhouse in rural France where a teacher works with seven children of different ages. It sounds like it has nothing to do with Drinking Buddies, but both films are fascinated by the texture of everyday relationships, by how people actually talk and listen and negotiate space together. The camera sits and watches. Nothing dramatic happens. Everything matters.

But It's a 2.5-hour documentary about a school. There is no plot, no music, no narrative drive. If you watch for what happens, you will be bored.

Booksmart2019

Olivia Wilde on both sides of the camera, thinking about how attraction lives inside friendship and how people don't always do what they're supposed to.

Olivia Wilde directed this film about two overachieving teenagers crashing a party the night before graduation. It shares Drinking Buddies' interest in the gap between what you intend and what you actually do, and in the weird intimacy of people trying to figure each other out. Also, Wilde is thinking about desire and friendship and the chaos between them.

But It's a teen comedy, energetic and loud. If you want the quiet sad-sack tone of Drinking Buddies, this goes the opposite direction.