Peter's Friends (1992)
Directed by Kenneth Branagh

Film Review

Whilst the format is horribly familiar (the film is virtually a carbon copy of Lawrence Kasdan's The Big Chill), Peter's Friends distinguishes itself as a typically downbeat Brit comedy by virtue of its acid-lined script and incomparable ensemble cast.  Kenneth Branagh directs the film with his customary aplomb and whilst the end result is far less memorable than his more lavish productions - such as his Shakespearean romps Henry V (1989) and Much Ado About Nothing (1993) - the film has no difficulty engaging with its audience, mainly because it deals with experiences that are familiar to anyone who watches it.  Admittedly, not all of the characters are as well developed and convincing as you might want, but the fact that they are played by such a likeable and familiar crowd makes it easy for us to accept them and sympathise with their personal crises, which range from the laughable to the truly hideous.

Some of the performances even take us by surprise.  Hugh Laurie, at the time better known as a comedy performer (mostly through his frequent television collaborations with Stephen Fry), shows a surprising aptitude for straight drama and makes the most favourable impact, doing his subsequent career no end of good in the process.  When it comes to high class acting, Laurie's only real challenger is Emma Thompson, who manages to be both funny and tragic as the 30-something spinster desperate to find her ideal man (the fact that she plumps for Stephen Fry makes her appear more tragic than Anna Karenina and Joan of Arc combined).

Co-screenwriter Rita Rudner does a good impression of the Hollywood soap vixen, although next to the stunning Alphonsia Emmanuel she might as well be invisible.  Branagh's main contribution on the acting front is a lesson on how not to perform a drunk scene.  Stephen Fry is his old luvvy self - no acting effort required, pish, tush.  Peter's Friends is by no means perfect but it has its rewards - in small, nicely gift-wrapped portions - and overall it offers a moving and witty reflection on the cruel ironies of life and the true value of friendship in an ever-changing world.  If you ever wanted to see Stephen Fry, Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh in a can-can line-up, this is where you need to be - just make sure you book the post-shock therapy beforehand.

Film Synopsis

In 1982, six university friends go their separate ways after a final disastrous performance of their comedy revue.  Ten years later, following the death of his father, one of the six, Peter, decides to hold a reunion, inviting his old friends to his large ancestral home to welcome in the New Year.  A lot has happened in ten years.  Andrew is now a successful Hollywood writer, married to TV star Carol; Roger and Mary are married and make their living as jingle writers; Sarah has found fame as a costume designer; and Maggie has made a career in publishing.  Whilst all of Peter's friends appear to have made a success of their professional lives, it soon becomes apparent that their domestic situations are far from ideal.  Roger and Mary are still coming to terms with the death of one of their children; Andrew resents owing his success to his celebrity wife; Sarah's love life is no more than a series of empty short-term romances; and Maggie has yet to find the right man.  As his guests begin to fall out among themselves, Peter decides the time has come to drop his own bombshell...