Circle of Friends (1995)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Takes itself way too seriously

Best movie ever!

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Well, my title isn't fabulous but for me, it's a bit like watching Dead poets society set in Ireland = a movie about old style students getting adults in a strict university! So this movie has everything I love: higher learning, campus, green landscape, parental and societal values, a beautiful romance and a really cool cast: they have become famous now but at the time, they were fresh and it's a joy to have them all together here: Chris O'Donnell, Alan Cumming, Colin Firth, Ciarán Hinds and for sure Minnie! Sure she has an unusual beauty but the movie shows brilliantly she has foremost a big heart and that is all matters! For her first movie, she is really convincing and moving and the decade (1995- 2004) when she built her career was indeed great memories!

This was a great movie, but it was a little different than the book. Spoilers: Nan was friends with Benny and Eve since childhood in the movie. In the book, they met at college. I liked O'Donald's character better in the movie than in the book. In the book, he acted like a jerk to Benny when she was too busy taking care of her widowed mother. In the movie, though he did feel a little lonely and got a little impatient,he (up until he cheated on her) was a little more understanding. In the book, I thought they implied that Benny got together with her, but I think she left it up to the author to decide. Other users says they did not get back together. In the movie, they definitely did get back together. I liked the part where Benny hit the bag over that creep's head and the money spilled out! Nan and Eve were great for their part. Although I do not consider O'Donald gorgeous, he is talented. I read some users comments. I also noticed the flaw they made when they said they were making their confirmation, (as other users stated) which was really the communion. However, that was not important to me. A lot of users were critical about the movie being so centered around sex. I agree with them, that it did get too much after a while, but those are real problems that teens and young adults faced then, and now. But back then they did not have sex education. (just guilt, from the catholic church)Perhaps if people talked to them about the real consequences of having sex (rather that preaching about it being a mortal sin)they would not have so much of a desire to have it. I think if this were a real story, Benny would have made a big mistake by having sex(obviously unprotected) and it would be a shame for a talented smart writer like Benny to ruin her chance of having a career; however, the movie ended there. I do not think it was made to teach you that you should have premarital sex, (though realistically it happened, even then, though it was just not talked of) It was made to entertain. It was a romantic love story, not a life lesson. A lot of people were disappointed by the fact that Benny gave Jack and second chance, but at least in the movie, he was not a jerk like he was in the book, as I said. Somebody said that the parents looked old for parents back then, but it was not unusual for women to take years to get pregnet, or to have many miscarriages (sadly). Back then they did not have the prenatal care that they have now, or ways of getting pregnet. The fact that she had only one child was also unusual for that time, which also implies that the mother probably took a long time to conceive. So I thought using older parents was appropriate, and backed up justly. Overall, a great movie!

Having just completed the novel I decided to rent the movie. I knew that it wouldn't compare to the book, but the story was practically unrecognizable. Multi-dimensional characters were simplified (Eve had no spark in the movie, no anger), leaving you with little indication as to what their thoughts and motivations were. I was particulary disappointed to see that the special circumstances surrounding their initial meeting on the first day of university (the motorcycle accident) was completely rewritten in favour of a lack-lustre introduction. But the biggest disappointment was taking a story about friendship and turning it into a romance movie.

There is something to be said when a movie ends and you do not want it to end just there. You want it to proceed, go on, continue, to know these people, what they do, what they think.Circle of Friends is such a movie. For me.I know very little of what Ireland really is. All I know is what I see in the movies. But I do something of what culture was 40 or 50 years ago. Life has changed. The way we approach relationships has changed. Perhaps it is this utter charm of the glossed-over conventions of days gone by that attracts me. Perhaps it is the Irish culture.But then again, it was just the wonderful direction and acting all the time. Minnie Driver and Chris O'Donnell suprise us with these tender performances. Both of these actors have done large mass-market productions. But it is these tender performances that really shine far above the flashy movies they've done before and since.Call me a romantic. Go ahead. Do that. I'll just smile right back and say: yes.Fine movie.