That's what friends are for?

Timon - Pumba 'BFF'

Olden scriptures like Ramayana and Greek mythology have revealed to us many tear evoking stories of sacrifices by friends for each other. In Ramayana, Laxana gave up his princely life to live with Rama and Sita just to suffer the deficiencies in the woods. Of course, cynics construe this gesture as an act of forbidden love between two males.
Why go far? Off hand, I can remember of so many sacrifices done by hero or supporting actors in many Hindi and Tamil movies. The formula of the poor down trotted friend sacrificing his love for his buddy as seen in 'Sangam' and 'Saajan' seem to have worked well at the box office and have made many a producer a happy man!
I find this type of true friendship not feasible in real life. Just like they say in Tamil, even if you are brothers (or friends), your mouths and stomachs are different!
So how do you go to protect and vouch for a friend against all eventualities? Do you give a blank cheque and free hand to be at his mercy just to regret you are stuck in a heap of manure and the lawyers have a field day pretending to feel your pain? Snap out of it, get real!