Peter's Friends (1992)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Very well executed

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This film is an apt demonstration of the old saying that you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear; in this case, any number of fine actors cannot rise above an inferior script. The performances seemed strained, over-the-top, and built on stereotypes, hence the two-dimensional quality of the characterizations. So frustrating to see fine actors like Thompson, Laurie, Staunton, and Branagh have so few places to go. Stephen Fry turns in the best work, because his role at least bears some mystery and nuance. It was impossible to believe that the characters who were cast as couples had ever been attracted to each other, much less married. The contemporary music seems manipulative, intrusive, and heavy handed--not much subtlety. Not much moral ambiguity, either: it's clear which characters we're supposed to love and which we're supposed to hate. Given these problems, as well as the sentimental and hackneyed ending (complete with a freeze frame of forced gaiety and laughter), it's remarkable that this film has been compared favorably to The Big Chill and The Return of the Secaucus Seven--it doesn't even come close.

Often dismissed (probably fairly) as an attempt to transplant "The Big Chill" into the English countryside, "Peter's Friends" is even more striking now for showing some familiar faces looking way younger than we now see them and for deploying co-writer Rita Rudner so far outside her familiar, Emo Phillips-in-drag persona. Peter (Stephen Fry) hosts a new year's reunion of college friends and their partners at the English country house (read: mansion) he has just inherited from his father. Nostalgia, crises and comedy ensue. It's as well acted as one would expect from the ensemble cast (oddly, Brannagh, the most distinguished actor among them is most the uneven, possibly distracted by directing duties) but the writing is inconsistent. The pace is too pressured with no time for reflection between constant emotional highs and lows. It's all a bit too frantic and formulaic. Despite all that the film is compelling. The characters are sufficiently well-rounded and likable to keep the viewer interested and Brannagh manages to make England in the dead of Winter look more lovely than bone-chilling. If you're the same age as the cast or up to about ten years younger it's intriguing. Outside of that demographic it's more likely to come across as puzzling or dull.

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.

It has been just about ten years since Peter last saw his group of University friends and, after his father died, he has inherited the family manor and decided to throw a reunion party for them. Of his friends, Sarah is still pretty much the same and has brought along her latest lover with her. Andrew has long ago sold out and moved to America where he met his wife Carol. Roger and Mary are married but life lives of quiet panic and worry since the death of one of their twin babies. Maggie meanwhile is so alone that she throws herself into the slightest offer of companionship. The friends come together but the tensions and problems are barely hidden and quickly come out.Opening with the type of privately educated people that I personally find very difficult to relate to, this film immediately had me on the backfoot and worried thanks to this and the sheer volume of luvvies in the cast. However the film manages to get past this for me because the writing is better than the very basic sitcom-come-melodrama that it is only ever a few steps away from being. It goes just where you expect it to though, and the fact that all the wheels fall off the various friends' lives will not surprise anyone but it is interesting and engaging enough. The sense of humour is quiet upper-class and it is sometimes hard to get into the characters because I did get the impression that they were very aloof but it was still solid enough to keep things moving.The cast work well and indeed many of them have a background that is similar to their characters (in terms of University I mean, not the personal detail). Fry is good although I must admit not caring much for his character. Branagh does a so-so job as director (nothing particularly special) and also as actor he isn't that good here – his drunk act in particular being weak. Continuing the split responsibilities = weakness trend, writer Rudner is not great in her acting role. Laurie is strong but he is outdone by a convincing little turn from Staunton. Thompson is good even if her character could have been made more of. Emmanuel is good but only shows me how hard it is for black actors to get ahead – she has barely been seen again. Slattery is Slattery and those who like him will like him here – I don't but that is by the by.Overall this is an engaging film despite the fact that I found the characters hard to like. The story may not be the most inspiring or shocking but it is involving nonetheless and comic if not really funny. A very British affair that is generally well written despite the rather pretentious and aloof material that runs across story, characters and performers.