Circle of Friends

Amazon.com

A polished gem from 1995, this disarmingly sweet and dramatically insightful love story provided a charming showcase for Chris O'Donnell and, especially, then-newcomer Minnie Driver, whose performance drew critical raves and boosted her career to Hollywood. Smoothly adapted from the novel by Maeve Binchy and set in Ireland during the 1950s, the story focuses on Benny (Driver), a somewhat plump, plain-looking young woman attending university in Dublin who meets and quickly falls for Jack (O'Donnell), a handsome star of the university's rugby team who surprisingly reciprocates her glowing admiration. They're drawn together as soul mates, and their love is dramatically contrasted with a subplot involving Benny's more conventionally beautiful friend Nan (Saffron Burrows), whose appetite for older men leads her into a misguided and ultimately tragic relationship. A betrayal by Jack sets the stage for potential heartbreak, but director Pat O'Connor prevents these carefully drawn characters from resorting to sappy melodrama. They have lessons to learn about life and love, and Circle of Friends teaches those lessons with grace, humor, and heartfelt sincerity. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Three girlhood friends now at college share first loves, first kisses and first betrayals. At the center of it all is the best-looking boy on campus. Can a self-conscious dreamer hook the biggest fish in the pond? ' 'A marvelous romantic comedy' ' (Siskel & Ebert)

Customer Reviews:

Elements of Comedy and Sorrow.......2007-05-26

This is a movie that touches your heart.

Lush and green (of course) is the rich background of this Irish film, the girls are all dolls and it's an enriching film to watch.

Once you've watched it , you can't forget it as it starts with childhood and ends at the brim of adulthood, giving us, the viewers something we can all recognize,which is friendship.

Irish Luck in Love.......2006-04-14

Minnie Driver's star making film explores the 50's in Catholic Ireland and how the lives of three girls revolve around love, friendship, and choices. A semi-autobiographical tale from one of Ireland's most popular writers.

Nice movie; No one is saving the world........2006-02-14

That's basically it. It's a nice movie about learning how to grow up. I have a feeling that all over the world and all over the times people struggle at this age, at this time of their lives and with the same results. Not to give a Nietzsche quote but we learn from our mistakes and eventually the pain, the sting and the tears, end. And we are perhaps only imperceptibly, a little stronger. Love and broken hearts. One of the great, great plots. Maybe the greatest.

O'Donnell is a lot of fun. I haven't seen him lately but I am sure he will pop up; Minnie Driver is great and conveys a sense of innocence, quiet passion and a joie vivre.

The real star is Ireland. They say "post-war Ireland" but Ireland wasn't in the war. It was neutral. Still, the war raped Europe and Ireland suffered with the rest. A beautiful country; a nice story. 4 stars. Larry Scantlebury

Good Movie, Great Book.......2005-10-12

This is a very enjoyable movie with lots of familiar faces. The reason I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars is the book tells the story better. Benny becomes a much stronger character in the book, and has some additional revelations about her worth and value.
The movie hits on most of the highlights of the book. This is for all those gals who have ever been slightly awkward or overweight-- there is more to life than just your looks.

Great characters.......2005-03-01

I think I loved the book so much that I enjoyed the movie just because it let me think about Binchy's characters in different situations.

Yes, the book is completely different from the Pat O'Connor film (esp the ending and the Coldagh/Fonsie storyline...which were two of the best things about the book for me) -- but it can still be enjoyed on its own. What made me want to own the movie was the scene between Eve and Nan in Eve's cottage kitchen. I loved Eve's monologue, and it still gives me chills. The casting for Eve, Nan, Sean and Benny was perfect.

The DVD itself does not offer much by way of extras. I was hoping to see some deleted scenes, but the only bonus features available were the trailer (which made the movie seem much more dynamic and interesting than it actually was) some promotional spots, and a mini "featurette".

Bob Mould: Circle of Friends - Live at the 9:30 Club

Average customer rating:

Bob Mould: Circle of Friends - Live at the 9:30 Club
Starring: Bob Mould
Manufacturer: Granary Music
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Music Video & Concerts | Genres | DVD | Video

Bluefinger

ASIN: B000TV4Q1O
Release Date: 2007-10-09

Average customer rating:

A Picaresque and Romantic View of the Late Sixties
see your past and your future
TOUCHY TABOO TOPICS........
They shared everything. why not each other?
I was an extra in this movie

A Small Circle of Friends
Starring: Brad Davis , Karen Allen , Jameson Parker , Shelley Long , and John Friedrich
Director: Rob Cohen
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00026L7QI
Release Date: 2004-08-24

Description

Brad Davis, Karen Allen and Jameson Parker star as three college students transformed by the turbulent '60s in this endearing illuminating and haunting (After Dark) film that delivers a convincing, evocative (Films in Review) portrait of an unforgettable era. A bright future appears in store for Harvard freshmen Leo (Davis), Jessica (Allen) and Nick (Parker). The dynamic Leo loses no time in wooing Jessica and making a name for himself on the campus paper. But romance and political idealism clash with reality when Jessica takes up with Nick and Leo's draft number comes up. As their 'small circle becomes an unorthodox love triangle, each must face up to events that will change their lives forever.

Customer Reviews:

A Picaresque and Romantic View of the Late Sixties.......2004-12-28

I love this film! Small Circle captures the essence of the late sixties' imagination and possibilities; it embraces the era's sense of romance while examining its explosive political and cultural turmoil. The film focuses on the relationships of three young people as they go through four years at Harvard, circa 1967-1971, the peak of sixties' awareness and excesses. While there may be some weaknesses in the filmmaker's attempts to cover as much as possible from the sixties in terms of issues (an aspect of the film I particularly adore but others do not), the depth of the three friends' love and commitment to each other ties everything together. Brad Davis' intense energy is alive even in this early film of his--his talent is sorely missed.

see your past and your future.......2004-01-25

one of the best there is to see ann arbor in 1970

TOUCHY TABOO TOPICS...............2002-02-24

This one's fairly well-hidden, after all when I originally saw it a few conservative [ahem!] audience members walked out in disgust just as Brad Davis, Karen Allan and Jameson Parker decided to become 'close' friends - nothing shocking, but slightly too much back then and probably today. [Yes, it does somewhat touch on the world of the bi-sexual, or is it just experimentation? It is also a rather good movie about EMOTIONAL CONTACT between three young people.]

It covers THAT radical period in our history [Viet-Nam and all of that!] - students exploring and discovering various 'things'. Don't ever mix love and politics I guess!

BUT it's more of a memory play - along the lines of a modern 'Our Town'. These are also great minor performances in the movie - the conservative guy who turns radical with deadly results.

MISS Brad Davis spontaneous talent - gone too soon - something of the Dean quality there and Dean would probably have approved of this movie.

Also equally stellar? Mr. Parker and Ms. Allen for just daring to be so bold!

Bravo!

[Then there's also the somewhat period but 'based on fact' - "Jules and Jim" - not forgetting "Sunday, Bloody Sunday"]

They shared everything. why not each other?.......2001-09-16

The most resonant element of director Rob Cohen's film is the music score by Jim Steinman, which includes the melody that was later recorded as Total Eclipse of the Heart. Otherwise this tale of a supposed menage-a-tois between Harvard university students Brad Davis, Karen Allen and Jameson Parker is as dramatic as the cartoon opening and closing sketches. The screenplay by Ezra Sacks attempts coverage of the Vietnam era from 1967 to 1971 from a student activist point of view, but the tri-romance hardly seems from the same era since it isn't until towards the end that there is any suggestion of bigamy. There is also even less suggestion of homosexuality interest between Davis and Parker. When the 3 finally go into the same bedroom, the camera is left outside and the door closed. Their lack of involvement in activism is paralled with the radicalisation of a Texan boy scout who comes to Harvard at the same time and ends up a terrorist, and highlighted by a campus riot that comes out of nowhere. Even the Vietnam connection as a comment on the relationship and vice versa doesn't work. Sacks opens with Parker reuniting with Allen in "the present" before we start flashbacking to 1967, with Davis' absence pre-empting the outcome, and Cohen supplies matching love scene montages. Davis' has steam so apparently is more erotic and ends abruptly, whilst Parker's is set to Chances Are and ends more positively. Sacks has 2 lines I liked - a technique of breaking into a glass window "I saw it on I Spy or was it The Untouchables", though Cohen repeats it, and "Only men would come up with a draft lottery using balls". Utilising period TV and photographic images - the assassinations of the Kennedy's and Martin Luther King - and a series of bad wigs, the only sense of reality and truth comes in a moment when someone sings the Star Spangled Banner to TV closure. Davis has the impossible charming/wild man role, not helped by his looking older than the others, and the best he can do is stare child-like for vulnerability. Allen doesn't have a strong screen persona so it's easy to think one is watching Amy Irving or Janet Margolin or Brooke Adams. Of the 3, Parker probably comes off best even when saddled with a Colonel Sanders look. His character's basic dullness is probably the reason he needs to be reunited with Allen. Even when the competition is Davis, anyone that prefers to experiment with rats rather than go to an Ingmar Bergman film is definitely worth reconsidering as a partner. Watch for Shelley Long as a photographer, and Daniel Stern, billed as Dan.

I was an extra in this movie.......1999-03-28

I got paid $35.00 for 12 hours work. Brad Davis pushed me in the critical student protest scene. I'm the one in the blue sweater.

Average customer rating:

Elements of Comedy and Sorrow
Irish Luck in Love
Nice movie; No one is saving the world.
Good Movie, Great Book
Great characters

Circle of Friends [Region 2]
Starring: Chris O'Donnell , Minnie Driver , Geraldine O'Rawe , Saffron Burrows , and Alan Cumming
Director: Pat O'Connor
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005NT58

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Elements of Comedy and Sorrow.......2007-05-26

Irish Luck in Love.......2006-04-14

Nice movie; No one is saving the world........2006-02-14

Good Movie, Great Book.......2005-10-12

Great characters.......2005-03-01

Average customer rating:

Elements of Comedy and Sorrow
Irish Luck in Love
Nice movie; No one is saving the world.
Good Movie, Great Book
Great characters

Circle of Friends [Region 2]
Starring: Chris O'Donnell , Minnie Driver , Geraldine O'Rawe , Saffron Burrows , and Alan Cumming
Director: Pat O'Connor
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

ASIN: B0001E5T6U

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Elements of Comedy and Sorrow.......2007-05-26

Irish Luck in Love.......2006-04-14

Nice movie; No one is saving the world........2006-02-14

Good Movie, Great Book.......2005-10-12

Great characters.......2005-03-01

DVD:

DVD

DVD