Circle of Friends | 
| Director: Pat O'connor
Actors: Chris O'donnell, Minnie Driver, Geraldine O'rawe, Saffron Burrows, Alan Cumming
Studio: Hbo Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $9.98
Buy New: $7.98
You Save: $2.00 (20%)
New (23) Used (39) Collectible (3) from $6.95
Rating:  68 reviews
Sales Rank: 5960
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dvd, Letterboxed, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
DVD Layers: 1
DVD Sides: 1
Picture Format: Letterbox
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 103 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.6 x 0.6
ISBN: 6304884389
UPC: 026359121425
EAN: 9786304884386
ASIN: 6304884389
Theatrical Release Date: March 15, 1995
Release Date: March 31, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
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)
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| Customer Reviews: Read 63 more reviews...
 dvd June 15, 2009
dolly (ireland)
One of my favourite films of all time. arrived on time as said and in good condition
first loves, first losses April 11, 2009
Robert J. Crawford (Balmette Talloires, France)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is an absolutely beautiful coming of age film, set in an Ireland of a different time that no longer exists. Driver is wonderful as an exceptional girl whose boyfriend has the brains to see beyond her plain appearance. Few films transmit the joy of discovery of youth: sex, of course, but also ideas that go beyond the confines of family and village. It is a time of opening out, when you can choose who you want to be while you know you are losing something from childhood as well. The film is pitch perfect for this.
At the heart of the film are also terrible betrayals. These things can cause such terrible pain when one is so young and open, so ready to embrace the new without seeing the dangers. It is where the true person begins to emerge, in spite of mistakes but also deeper motives and capabilities. We can grow beyond this early, and most of us must. As I watched this sensitive portrayal, I remembered my own first loves with pain and joy - all the potential, all the disappointment, all the growth. At this, the film succeeded for me at the deepest level.
Warmly recommended. There is not a jot of Hollywood sentimentality or deus ex machina to it.
Beautiful Ireland and Beautiful Benny January 30, 2009
Melinda Kohn (USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
If you love Ireland, get this movie. It's a beautiful homage to the country, and she sure looks great.
If you love heroines who are are not typical, get this movie. Benny (Minnie Driver in an excellent performance) is a chubby, clumsy girl who has a big heart that breaks - and her big heart serves her well. You just root for her all of the time because she is so genuine. I'm not going to give you the plot because I don't want any spoilers to ruin your enjoyment. Oops, perhaps I gave you one. Sorry.
Well worth viewing; I recommend it highly. Excellent performances by all of the cast in particular Saffron Burrows (you love to hate her) and Colin Firth. As in Colin Firth: "Mr. Darcy, why do I hate you so much in this movie?" Good acting, is why.
Circle of Friends November 30, 2008
A. Lee (Kentucky)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
The DVD was in great shape. It arrived timely. I would definitely buy from them again
 Split the difference between the novel and Hollywood August 11, 2008
Dixie Diamond (Texas)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I know that this is quite different from the original story, but it's still a good movie. It's Hollywood-ized, but it's not so Hollywood-ized that it just flings Benny back into Jack's arms as if nothing happened.
I hadn't watched this and years and popped the DVD in to see if I wanted to keep it or resell it. I think I'll keep it. I'd forgotten how good a movie it is. It's such a relief these days to see a film with so many reasonable, believable characters when so many movies now seem to sell themselves on outlandishness.
It was HUGELY refreshing to see a girl who really is big--tall and solid--playing a character that's supposed to be big. She is not at all unattractive and is not portrayed as plain, awkward, or "nerdy" (as un-beauties usually are). She's just not a silver-screen sylph, and thankfully the movie doesn't punish her for it or make a lot of ugly-duckling jokes at her expense. Hooray, Minnie Driver!
Geraldine O'Rawe is also great, feisty but not heartless, sensible, and intelligent. Saffron Burrows has less of a part but it's clear that she's naive and got in over her head, and not just a heartless vamp. It's clear why the three girls are friends but the characters are not played so much alike that they seem flat. Colin Firth is utterly colorless, but he has a minor part, and his flatness is appropriate for the role (Mr. Darcy fans will probably be disappointed, though).
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