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

ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

Gary The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Kinley This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

James Hitchcock "Peter's Friends" can be seen as a British version of "The Big Chill". Like the American film, it deals with a group of old university friends meeting up several years after graduating. In 1982 Peter, Andrew, Roger, Mary, Sarah and Maggie were all members of Cambridge University student comedy troupe. In 1992 Peter, the son of an aristocratic family, invites his friends to celebrate New Year at the stately home he has recently inherited from his father. Joining the party are Sarah's boyfriend Brian and Andrew's American film star wife Carol. Roger and Mary are now married to one another; Peter and Maggie are still single (although Maggie, it turns out, nurses an unrequited passion for Peter).As the weekend progresses, we learn more about the members of the group and the secrets which some of them are hiding. It becomes clear that Roger and Mary have recently suffered some great misfortune, but the nature of this is only gradually revealed. The first great shock comes when the audience discover that Brian is in fact married with a son and is cheating on his wife with Sarah. Thereafter the revelations come thick and fast, the final one, involving Peter himself, coming right at the end.The comedy troupe was obviously based on the famous "Footlights" to which cast members Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, Emma Thompson and Tony Slattery all belonged, although the rather naff sketch we see them performing might indicate why none of the fictitious characters, unlike their real- life counterparts, have gone on to become professional comedians. Scriptwriter Martin Bergman was also a former Footlight; he wrote the script together with his wife, Rita Rudner, who also plays Carol. (Perhaps I should declare an interest. I myself was a Cambridge contemporary of some of the cast, and knew Stephen Fry personally).A film like this one could easily have ended up as little more than a country-house soap opera for intellectuals. That it does not is due partly to Bergman and Rudner's literate script and partly to the skill of the cast members. In 1992 several of these were known mainly as comedians, or at least as comic actors, but although there are moments of humour, this is more a character study than a comedy. There are no stars; this is very much an example of ensemble acting. Special mention should go to Stephen Fry as the kindly but haunted Peter, Kenneth Branagh (who also directed and produced) as the recovering alcoholic Andrew, struggling to cope with the demands of his Hollywood writing career and with marriage to the tempestuous Carol, Branagh's then wife Emma Thompson as the frumpy Maggie, Tony Slattery as the arrogant, bumptious Brian and Alphonsia Emmanuel (an actress I have not heard much of recently) as Sarah. There is a nice contrast between Hugh Laurie's Roger and Imelda Staunton's Mary, both recovering from their shared tragedy but in very different ways."Peter's Friends" is in many ways a very British film, just as "The Big Chill" was very American. Although it involves strong emotions, several of the characters deal with them with a typical British reserve and "stiff upper lip"; this is particularly true of Peter himself, Roger and Maggie, and to some extent of Andrew, although he loses his stiff upper lip when under the influence of alcohol. It does not have the overtly political content of "The Big Chill", although it does deal with a broadly similar theme, the way in which youthful idealism can be corroded by the harsh experiences of adult life. One of the best psychological dramas of the nineties. 8/10

* * "Peter's friends" is a seemingly modest, delectable and almost quiet film about the people we become if we're lucky. It's one of those extremely rare reunion movies where very dissimilar characters are bound together by sincere friendship, not old resentments. As they're invited to a country manor by one of them to celebrate New Year's and enjoy each other's company for old times' sake, they're unfazed by the impression they may leave, but perhaps too eager to make it a fun time together. It's the people they bring along that start to complicate everything but also truly re-unite them.The cast is fantastic (mind the wonderful Phyllida Law, Thompson's mother, in the role of Vera) and the atmosphere brilliantly subdued. The upbeat late 80's music brings back memories, and it's a sorely needed uplifting element amidst the dreary British winter. Branagh's direction leaves some direction to be desired, but it's exactly that slightly amateurish feel to it that makes the film tick.When I watched "Peter's friends" for the first time more than ten years ago, it struck me as a slow-paced movie, quirky but fun. A decade later, it seems spirited, joyful and warm with lots of smirks, some laughs, and plenty of "I know this awful embarrassing feeling" moments. It's also become a great testimony to the late 80s, early 90s era, now trapped in time but well remembered for its excess in clothing, opulence in music, powerful political movements and, perhaps, youthful naivety. It's a movie I could watch each year anew.

Richard Stanford You won't find a laugh track. Or even any side-splitting laughs. Its not slapstick, indeed most of the humor is directed ironically at the character who's making the self-deprecating comment. Its not really tragic - its a situation comedy of the old school, with great actors, a reasonable framework for them to perform, and no artificial beginning or ending, just characterization. Like many movies of this kind, you have to bring your brain along and do some of the work yourself. It is, however, an effort that will be greatly rewarded, and highly rewarding. So find the movie, watch it, think about it, and enjoy it. You'll probably continue to do so through many viewings.And while its not out on DVD in the US, it available out on laserdisc (if anyone still has one - I did for many years). Not much, but its something.

B24 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.