Peter's Friends (1992)reviewed by Benn "Where's the Humanity?" Farrell
"Peter's Friends" is about seven members of an acting troupe who graduated Oxford in 1982 and went their separate ways. This is until Peter, played by Stephen Fry (Wilde), decides to get them all together for a reunion at his inherited estate, after the death of his father. Among the picture's heavy hitters are Hugh Laurie (TV's House), Academy Award® nominee Imelda Staunton (Vera Drake), two time Oscar® winner Emma Thompson (Sense and Sensibility)--seeing how she was still married to the director at the time, as well as the director himself, the ever so meticulous and funny Kenneth Branagh (Mary Shelly's Frankenstein). The picture also features American stand up comedian Rita Rudner, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Martin Bergmann. The material in the movie is all about relationships, friendships and the damage time and age will do on both. It also works in messages about celebrity marriages and shallowness, and somehow, by the end of the movie, it has something to say about having AIDS. What the hell? We have a character with AIDS, a couple who are mourning and torn apart after having one of their twins drown, a woman ripping a married man away from his family, and a woman falling in love with her gay friend--so you know that storyline isn't ending happily. How on Earth does this picture get labeled a comedy? That's my biggest problem with the movie. It pretends to be funny at times, but for the most part, it simply make the viewer feel comfortable. Director Branagh did very well to have his audience feel the tension between any two given characters at ANY time. Some of the joke writing is very on target, but for the most part, the movie seemed to not know what it was and had--dare I say it--WAY TOO MUCH TO SAY. Rudner, as a writer, was very overzealous. Branagh's visual style was signature of his usual work, long tracking shots and two-shots to keep the actors on their toes, but the cinematography on this work was horrible. The colors in the movie were as flat as its characters' lives. Maybe that was intended. Overall, "Peter's Friends" is good for a laugh in spots but is very unfocused an most sequences. I will blame writers Rudner and Bergmann for trying to do too much with this story, and unfortunately director Branagh for not refining the script the way it needed to be. Benn - Where's the Humanity?
This is one of the more humorous non-comedies I've seen come out of England, starring a cast of British comedy heavy-hitters, but for some reason they aren't funny. Hmm.