The Age of Commercialism

How sad is this?

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Often dismissed (probably fairly) as an attempt to transplant "The Big Chill" into the English countryside, "Peter's Friends" is even more striking now for showing some familiar faces looking way younger than we now see them and for deploying co-writer Rita Rudner so far outside her familiar, Emo Phillips-in-drag persona. Peter (Stephen Fry) hosts a new year's reunion of college friends and their partners at the English country house (read: mansion) he has just inherited from his father. Nostalgia, crises and comedy ensue. It's as well acted as one would expect from the ensemble cast (oddly, Brannagh, the most distinguished actor among them is most the uneven, possibly distracted by directing duties) but the writing is inconsistent. The pace is too pressured with no time for reflection between constant emotional highs and lows. It's all a bit too frantic and formulaic. Despite all that the film is compelling. The characters are sufficiently well-rounded and likable to keep the viewer interested and Brannagh manages to make England in the dead of Winter look more lovely than bone-chilling. If you're the same age as the cast or up to about ten years younger it's intriguing. Outside of that demographic it's more likely to come across as puzzling or dull.

I stumbled across this film while reading about the comedy show "A Bit of Fry and Laurie," since it also features the dynamic comedic duo of Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie. The pair's eclectic brand of wit is, however, somewhat subdued in this bittersweet drama from director Kenneth Branagh, which concerns six college friends who reunite a decade later to catch up on old times and pick up the shattered fragments of their middle-aged lives. Sounds terribly depressing, doesn't it? It is at times, but the overriding emotion is one of nostalgia and reassurance, the knowledge that old friends, however estranged, are always there to lend a hand in one's darker hours. First and foremost, 'Peter's Friends (1992)' boasts an excellent, intimate cast, including Emma Thompson, Imelda Staunton and Branagh himself. Stephen Fry seems a bit flustered in the title role, seemingly uncomfortable playing such a sincere, polite character, though there are snippets of his usual trademark flamboyance; Laurie, however, predictably excels in a tough dramatic role.Branagh shoots the film in gracefully-moving long takes, some single shots encompassing five minutes of action or dialogue. While this approach can often seem overly ostentatious, here the use of long-takes is laudably understated. The opening scene is an elaborate flurry of song and movement that runs over four minutes, and follows the main characters through a musical performance and into their change-rooms, while scarcely acknowledging that the scene is a single take. The motives behind the technique differ from those of Hitchcock in 'Rope (1948),' in which the mobile camera voyeuristically shuffled across the room alongside the film's characters. In Allen's 'Everyone Says I Love You (1996),' the camera is basically sat in one place, a silent but nevertheless present participant in each conversation. In Branagh's film, the camera feels less like a participant than an omnipresent observer, surveying each scene coolly and detachedly. This omnipresence is heightened by an often-moving camera, recalling Altman's ever-panning lens in 'Gosford Park (2001)' {which more overtly references the "Upstairs, Downstairs"-like relationship between masters and servants}.

It wasn't a bad movie, but with a lesser cast it would have been. It kept flirting with amateurish melodrama and the occasional attempt at broad comedy while still wanting to be a witty comedy, yet somehow the performances kept it together (except for one highly over-acted scene from Branagh). Knowing we were basically watching "Kenneth's Friends" with various points of similarity to the actors' real lives put an unfortunate air of "vanity project" about the movie.How ironic that comments here have commented on the extreme Britishness of the writing, when at least one of the two screenwriters was American. Rita Rudner slipped at least one line from her stand-up act into the movie (about not falling in love), and found a way for one of the characters to praise the line too.Those who are in denial about similarities to The Big Chill are just in denial. The comparison was inescapable, and I kept thinking of it as The Brit Chill while I was watching it, before I had read any reviews or IMDb comments. Kevin Costner didn't show up as the dead guy that prompted the reunion in this one either! :-)

"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.