KENNETH BRANAGH
Bil’s rating (out of 5): BBB. United Kingdom, 1992. British Broadcasting Corporation, Channel Four Films, Renaissance Films, The Samuel Goldwyn Company. Screenplay by Rita Rudner, Martin Bergman. Cinematography by Roger Lanser. Produced by Kenneth Branagh. Production Design by Tim Harvey. Costume Design by Susan Coates, Stephanie Collie. Film Editing by Andrew Marcus.
(T, L-R) Phyllida Law, Hugh Laurie, (B, L-R) Alphonsia Emmanuel, Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson and Imelda Staunton in Peter’s Friends.
Contrived but sometimes fun British remake of The Big Chill is a pleasant and innocent way to spend an hour and a half. The funniest performance in the film (despite co-writer Rita Rudner‘s shenanigans) comes from Emma Thompson as the repressed spinster Maggie, who discovers her sex appeal while on a weekend vacation at her friend Peter’s giant mansion in the country. The other cast members go through similar spritual makeovers, but the film’s heart lies in the moments between Stephen Fry as Peter and his housekeeper played by Phyllida Law (Thompson’s real-life mother).
