Peter's Friends (1992)

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:

Unhappy Marriage | Directed By Star | Loneliness | Footsie Under The Table | Sexual Tension

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 (Peter's Father)
Phyllida Law	...	Vera (Housekeeper), Paul's Mom
Alex Scott	...	Paul (age 7)
Edward Jewesbury	...	Mr. Gooch, Peter's Solicitor
Hetta Charnley	...	Carol's fan at Airport
Rita Rudner	...	Carol Benson, 'Who's in the Kitchen'
Bill Parfitt	...	Baby Ben Charleston
Ruby May Musto	...	Baby Ben Charleston
Ann Davies	...	Brenda

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | Iceland:L | 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:

[knocking on Peter's bedroom door in the middle of the night]
Maggie: Fill me with your little babies!

Movie Connections:

References "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" (1987)

Soundtrack:

Orpheus In the Underworld

Reunions

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.