Peter's Friends (1992)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Kenneth Branagh

Writers:

Rita Rudner (written by) and
Martin Bergmann (written by)

Release Date:

25 December 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Plot:

Six former college friends, with two new friends, gather for a New Years Eve weekend reunion at a large English countryside manor after ten years to reminisce about the good times now long gone.

Plot Keywords:

Friend | New Year | Weekend | Countryside | Reunion

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Hugh Laurie	...	Roger Charleston
Kenneth Branagh	...	Andrew Benson
Stephen Fry	...	Peter Morton
Alphonsia Emmanuel	...	Sarah Johnson
Emma Thompson	...	Maggie Chester
Imelda Staunton	...	Mary Charleston
Richard Briers	...	Lord Morton
Phyllida Law	...	Vera
Alex Scott	...	Paul (age 7)
Edward Jewesbury	...	Mr. Gooch, Peter's Solicitor
Hetta Charnley	...	Carol's fan at Airport
Rita Rudner	...	Carol Benson
Bill Parfitt	...	Baby Ben Charleston
Ruby May Musto	...	Baby Ben Charleston
Ann Davies	...	Brenda

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:L | Singapore:NC-16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-12 | Germany:12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R | Canada:14A

Filming Locations:

Wrotham Park, Barnet, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

Phyllida Law, who plays Vera the housekeeper in the movie, is Emma Thompson's mother.

Goofs:

Continuity: As Brian is being picked up by his wife, Carol's bags can be seen on the front steps. Carol had already been picked up by a driver prior to Brian's departure.

Quotes:

Peter: Oh, how can I put this delicately? It's just that I'm not really in the vagina business.

Movie Connections:

References "Upstairs, Downstairs" (1971)

Soundtrack:

Everybody Wants To Rule The World

Provocative British wit: a contemporary battle of the sexes

Good, solid drama in the best British style, replete with witty dialogues, more or less a showcase for Kenneth Branagh to bestow upon us something that is not in the least Shakespearian. Nicely-paced development lets the principal characters ease their way into the proceedings in an orchestrated way, such that there is a fine balance in screen presence as well as in the interwoven combinations of the players from scene to scene, very much in the straight theatre tradition. Therein lies a possible weakness: the film has a straight-jacket feel to it, as though indeed it was too severely and strictly transposed from the stage to the screen.

Very much in the vein of a `battle of the sexes', we have in `Peter's Friends' several couples meeting some years after graduating, supposedly to remember old times. I rather fancy that the ladies win this battle by a slight margin, as the performances by Imelda Staunton, Emma Thompson and Alphonsia Emmanuel manage to pull off a finely-tuned upper-hand over the gentlemen.

This is about the third time I have seen this film - and will doubtlessly see it again. However, having recently seen `Gosford Park' a couple of times, I cannot help marrying up the two films - and thus falling into the trap of comparing them. `Gosford Park' comes out clearly the winner: Altman's masterpiece.