Was Michael Keaton's Bruce Wayne ever really friends with Commissioner Gordon?
Yeah, he invited Gordon to his house for the party in this movie but considering that Vicki Vale was also invited without even knowing the man, shouldn't this hardly count as evidence that they were friends then? The only time in Batman Returns that I recall them interacting is when Gordon catches Bruce as Batman leaving so he could thank him for taking career of the Red Triangle Circus early on in the movie.
In Batman Forever with Val Kilmer, Gordon calls on Bruce personally for both Stickley's suicide and for helping out with Dick Grayson and is clearly on a first name basis with him, calling him "Bruce" instead of "Mr. Wayne".