Peter's Friends (1992)

PETER'S FRIENDS has a lot to like. Some of the performances and vignettes are very good and it's impossible to say that the film isn't touching. At the same time, however, I also found myself thinking that perhaps the film makers tried too hard--putting too many conflicts, too many complicated back stories and, unfortunately, too many clichés to make this a must-see picture. It was a case of all the wonderful parts adding up to an okay whole but not a lot more.The film begins by showing a group of six college chums doing some sort of review show for an audience of not terribly appreciative people. We did not get to see the show--perhaps they were terrible--we just don't know. However, these six friends are all very excited afterwords and they pose for a picture and talk about how they'll all be best friends forever.Now suddenly it's a decade later. The six eternal friends have drifted a bit--all having their own lives and maintaining only incidental contacts. Out of the blue, Peter (Stephen Fry) contacts them all--inviting them to his huge family mansion to celebrate the New Year. All six can make it and two of them invite significant others. Unfortunately, some of the six are incredibly shallow, unlikable and easy to read because they are a tad clichéd--representing more archetypes than believable people. One is a nympho who commits to relationships way too quickly and as a result is lonely and rather pathetic. She brings her latest lover--who seems like a boorish jerk. One has married a shallow Hollywood actress and is desperately unhappy with all his wealth and happiness. His wife is annoying and well,...annoying. One is lonely and a spinster--or at least she will be if she doesn't do something about her life. And, finally, two of them married and their marriage is in trouble following the death of one of their kids. Frankly, the only ones that didn't seem unreal were the grieving couple and I really wish there'd been much more time in the film devoted to them. They were compelling and believable.An additional problem with the film is that all these people had very complicated lives--enough to make a mini-series instead of a full-length film. Because it was all crammed in so tightly and there were almost magical resolutions or at least realizations on this poignant weekend that it all seemed artificial. Now there were gobs of interesting moments--but with so many, many, many such moments you wonder if there are six friends anywhere with that much going on at one time! Too much from start to finish helped sink this British incarnation of THE BIG CHILL to the level of a time-passer.

I hated this film. And then when I was through hating it, I began to loathe it. My last ounce of strength left over from loathing it was consumed in despising it.This film is so bad. It is coarse. It is stupid. It is coarsely stupid and stupidly coarse.It's beyond bewildering, in fact it is unfathomable as to why Rita Rudner would write such an awful showcase for herself.I've heard some of her standup comedy.Her standup was funny.This film was not.

"Peter's friends" is a seemingly modest, delectable and almost quiet film about the people we become if we're lucky. It's one of those extremely rare reunion movies where very dissimilar characters are bound together by sincere friendship, not old resentments. As they're invited to a country manor by one of them to celebrate New Year's and enjoy each other's company for old times' sake, they're unfazed by the impression they may leave, but perhaps too eager to make it a fun time together. It's the people they bring along that start to complicate everything but also truly re-unite them.The cast is fantastic (mind the wonderful Phyllida Law, Thompson's mother, in the role of Vera) and the atmosphere brilliantly subdued. The upbeat late 80's music brings back memories, and it's a sorely needed uplifting element amidst the dreary British winter. Branagh's direction leaves some direction to be desired, but it's exactly that slightly amateurish feel to it that makes the film tick.When I watched "Peter's friends" for the first time more than ten years ago, it struck me as a slow-paced movie, quirky but fun. A decade later, it seems spirited, joyful and warm with lots of smirks, some laughs, and plenty of "I know this awful embarrassing feeling" moments. It's also become a great testimony to the late 80s, early 90s era, now trapped in time but well remembered for its excess in clothing, opulence in music, powerful political movements and, perhaps, youthful naivety. It's a movie I could watch each year anew.

For those of us who have experienced countless "reunions" in our mature lives, there is much to recognize here. No matter what the year in real time, the more things change, the more they stay the same.This is basically an intelligent script. That is why I am reluctant to have to fault the director's overwrought interpretation as evidenced by a good deal of melodramatic interplay where understatement would be so much more effective. Only Kenneth Branagh manages to carry it off well, especially in the final scene. I was particularly annoyed by the waste of talent in making the character played by Emma Thompson something of a comic figure. The line "fill me with your babies" is an example of bathos rather than something antic or farcical. If read properly, it should evoke pity for someone who is only mildly neurotic and fully capable of mature insights -- as further scenes demonstrate.An audience expects greater depth from a serious play that has as its center the otherwise trite scenario of disparate guests coming together for a weekend in the country. Unless farce is intended, the laughs ought to come from wordplay, not pies in the face or anguished physical disintegration.Still, I like the idea of fresh characterizations that pop up from time to time like that of "Peter" as the centerpiece here.