Amazon.com video review:
A polished gem from 1995, this disarmingly sweet and
dramatically insightful love story provided a charming showcase for
Chris O'Donnell and, especially, then-newcomer Minnie Driver, whose
performance drew critical raves and boosted her career to
Hollywood. Smoothly adapted from the novel by Maeve Binchy and set in
Ireland during the 1950s, the story focuses on Benny (Driver), a
somewhat plump, plain-looking young woman attending university in
Dublin who meets and quickly falls for Jack (O'Donnell), a handsome
star of the university's rugby team who surprisingly reciprocates her
glowing admiration. They're drawn together as soul mates, and their
love is dramatically contrasted with a subplot involving Benny's more
conventionally beautiful friend Nan (Saffron Burrows), whose appetite
for older men leads her into a misguided and ultimately tragic
relationship. A betrayal by Jack sets the stage for potential
heartbreak, but director Pat O'Connor prevents these carefully drawn
characters from resorting to sappy melodrama. They have lessons to
learn about life and love, and Circle of Friends teaches those
lessons with grace, humor, and heartfelt sincerity. --Jeff
Shannon
