Peter's Friends (DVD)

...in. One of these was Peter's Friends . . . so I admit it, I first watched this film because one of my favourite songs was part of the soundtrack! (I can sometimes be a bit more shallow than other people believe . . . actually there are quite a few 1970s/1980s songs in here, which I think suits the mood of the film.)

In a way, I find it surprising that Peter's Friends seems to be so little-known - I think I've only ever spotted it being ...
...the Can-Can - to entertain Peter's dad (Richard Briers in an appearance that lasts about thirty seconds - I had to watch it twice to spot it) and his New Year guests, but going down as well as the proverbial lead balloon. Ten years on, with his father dead, Peter is now Lord Morton and the only firm decision he's made about the house he can't really afford to live in is that he's having a party with his university friends. So have they grown-up or ... more

This is one of those films that nobody else seems to have heard of and - up until a few years ago - neither had I. Indeed, I have my passion for 1980s pop music to thank for my knowledge that this film even exists. For reasons I don't even remember, I came across a website listing the lyrics to Tears For Fears' mid-eighties hit Everybody Wants To Rule The World and whichever page I viewed mentioned a variety of films, TV programmes and albums that the song featured in. One of these was Peter's Friends . . . so I admit it, I first watched this film because one of my favourite songs was part of the soundtrack! (I can sometimes be a bit more shallow than other people believe . . . actually there are quite a few 1970s/1980s songs in here, which I think suits the mood of the film.)

In a way, I find it surprising that Peter's Friends seems to be so little-known - I think I've only ever spotted it being shown on TV twice - because, in their own right, the majority of the cast are what I think most people would call "famous". The opening scene, panning across a group of over-enthusiastic new graduates in top hats, coats, frilly skirts and fishnet stockings (boys included!), shows the audience Peter (Stephen Fry), Andrew (Kenneth Branagh), Maggie (Emma Thompson), Roger (Hugh Laurie), Mary (Imelda Staunton) and Sarah (Alphonsia Emmanuel) singing lyrics about the London Underground to the tune of Orpheus in the Underworld - probably better known to most as the Can-Can - to entertain Peter's dad (Richard Briers in an appearance that lasts about thirty seconds - I had to watch it twice to spot it) and his New Year guests, but going down as well as the proverbial lead balloon. Ten years on, with his father dead, Peter is now Lord Morton and the only firm decision he's made about the house he can't really afford to live in is that he's having a party with his university friends. So have they grown-up or are they still immature twenty-two year olds at heart?

I once read some Internet Movie Database trivia that claimed that Rita Rudner (who plays Andrew's wife Carol, a seemingly minor TV star looking for a film break that she's never likely to get) and her husband Martin Bergman wrote the script for Peter's Friends in about five days, and I must admit there are moments when I watch this film that make me think, "Didn't they want to write a better final draft?". Peter's Friends is very much character-driven - nothing exactly eventful happens, rather it seems to provide the six friends with a bit of time out of their busy (generally arts-orientated) lives to reassess their lives and whether they even like themselves - but a really unfortunate (and very hard to ignore - for me, at least) feature of the film is that some characters are far more rounded than others.

The new Lord Morton, Peter (Stephen Fry) remains the pacifying one, putting his friends first and helping them out so much that - when he drops his genuinely serious bombshell of a personal problem on them in the final scene - they can't help but feel guilty that they haven't given him one chance in two days to talk about himself. On a par with Peter's situation - or arguably even more distressing - is Roger and Mary's marriage. I don't think it's giving much away to say that they lost one of their twin boys to cot death, which has made Mary so over-protective of their baby Ben that a weekend away from him presents her with a real challenge. Of all the relationships in this film, Roger and Mary's is the one that I feel is fleshed out best - an argument they have in the middle of the film is one that you can tell has been building up for some time, and I get the impression that the audience is supposed to think that it's the first time since their son Simon's death that they've actually expressed their feelings. It's so believable it's actually hard to watch at times.

On quite the opposite end of the scale is Sarah (apparently a theatrical costume designer) and her partner of two weeks, the idiotic Brian (Tony Slattery) - there are few film characters that I've ever wanted to inflict actual harm on because they were so over-the-top but Brian is one. I still don't know if there was a missing scene that was cut which might have given Brian more depth but he starts off as a sex-mad relayer of unfunny jokes (the only one he tells - repeatedly - during the film never gets to the punchline and doesn't seem to have any point anyway) and never really develops as a character. His decision to leave his wife to be with Sarah lasts only until she realises she's been going out with quite the wrong type of men for years and promptly suggests that he goes home. It's such an odd pairing that I think any viewer would struggle to understand how intelligent Sarah could put up with him, even for a fortnight.

And speaking of odd pairings, there's Andrew and Carol - enjoying the most successful (relatively speaking) show-business career of any of the friends at the expense of a three or four year marriage which appears to be holding together on the basis that they have both attended Alcoholics Anonymous and that Carol acted as Andrew's agent when nobody else would. On one hand I feel a bit sorry for Carol - stuck, as she describes it, "in a freezing drawing room with the caste of Masterpiece Theatre", who clearly enjoyed a far better level of education than hers and where she compensates by showing off about her mid-afternoon programme Who's In The Kitchen? - but then she uses the weekend to show off about how popular her programme is, and becomes a bit too paranoid about the chances of Andrew and Sarah resuming their undergraduate affair . . .

Which brings me round to Maggie. Poor Maggie - she's the sort of person who will never be fashionable, who has become the stereotypical "spinster", at home with her cat Michael and her work in publishing. Setting out for the occasion with the firm belief that Peter will realise that they're meant to be, she takes the advice of one of the self-help books about being direct and presents herself at Peter's bedroom door, revealing her hidden passions (and a bit more, too . . .), which forces Peter to explain one of the reasons he has become celibate (the second comes later) and, with a bit of inspiration from Carole, Maggie finally gets to uncover her more sensual side with someone nobody expects her to . . .

Peter's Friends will probably never be one of those globally famous films - seventeen years after being released, I know plenty of people who have never heard of it - but it's something that I often put on when I've got a night or even an afternoon to myself, and I certainly think that the parallels between the characters and the lives of some of the cast (Thompson, Fry, Laurie and Slattery were all in the Cambridge Footlights and I suspect that the revue put on by the six friends in the film must be inspired by this) help to keep it together. It's not the best script in the world - if it was mine I'd re-edit it before letting it go into production and I'd certainly improve or explain Brian's character more - and I'd agree with anyone who thought the storyline needed development. That said, it's certainly worth a viewing - particularly for a performance of The Way You Look Tonight by the six, with Hugh Laurie playing the piano. (Those who appreciated his impressions of musical instruments in A Bit Of Fry and Laurie might well enjoy his performance.)

I'm afraid this must read more like a film review than one for a DVD. I don't know if there is another version that has extra features but the one I picked up in HMV a few years ago for about £12.99 certainly doesn't have any - actually, the on-screen menu is pretty disappointing, because the only option I ever get presented with is "play movie" and there just aren't any deleted scenes, audio commentary or original cinema trailers to explore (which I always like from a DVD). As the cast are still so well known, I'm surprised they weren't asked for small contributions. Those that are bothered by swearing might also want to note that there is quite a bit scattered throughout the film and that, plus a few (not very explicit) sex scenes probably explains why it was given a 15 certificate rather than a 12. 

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