The Task: Watch and write about every movie on my shelf, in order, by June 10, 2015. Remaining movies: 312 (+3 new today = 315) Days to go: 304
Movie #58: Circle of Friends
As the title indicates, Circle of Friends is about a group of friends — specifically, three girls in Ireland and the boys they hang out with at school. It bears the distinction of being Minnie Driver’s feature film debut (as Benny Hogan), but it’s also the movie that introduced me to Alan Cumming (playing Sean Walsh). (It introduced me to Colin Firth (as Simon Westward) as well, but I wouldn’t realize it until years after the fact.) To this day, I’m a bit wary of Alan Cumming for no other reason than he is creepy as all get out in this movie, and considering how generally awesome I suspect he actually is, I figure he’s owed at least an Oscar for giving me the heebie jeebies for nearly 20 years straight. There’s a creepy-crawly little music cue following him around in all his scenes that gives me the sensation of spiders on the back of my neck — that’s how completely repulsed I am by his character. It’s no joke.
On the flip side, Circle of Friends comes at the exact pinnacle of Chris O’Donnell’s dreamboat status. I seem to remember a few guffaws over his attempt at an Irish accent, but I never have any problem with it. This might be because he’s incredibly easy on the eyes, but who’s to say? I always thought Tom Cruise was easy on the eyes too, but I still know his Irish accent is for shit in Far and Away. Playing Jack Foley (which, come on, even that name is sexy), O’Donnell is a charming and earnest, fine Irish lad. He’s honest and sincere and falls quite quickly for the insecure Benny, which of course I think is lovely. No man is more romantic than one who sees all the beauty in a woman, even if she can’t see it in herself.
It’s true Benny spends the entire movie making self-deprecating remarks about her size and overall appearance, and by the kind of treatment she gets from Sean Walsh, it’s clear she’s learned to see herself this way because others do as well. To be perfectly honest, though, I never saw Benny as all that big. She’s not as petite as Eve (Geraldine O’Rawe) and she’s not rail-thin like Nan (Saffron Burrows), but other than having a round face (as in the shape — Driver has a wide, square jaw) and a buxom figure, she’s nowhere near fat. At most, she is soft, which I suppose in Hollywood is a cardinal sin but in real life it’s just a natural way of being. Still, there are many young women in the world who put themselves down and criticize their looks even when everyone else sees their beauty, so I appreciate a movie that manages to highlight that discrepancy, even if I’m not entirely sure it meant to. (Sometime after Good Will Hunting came out I read an interview with Driver in which she lamented the fact that her big break was in a movie that focused on her weight but she didn’t get famous until she lost it. I think about that a lot, actually, and it makes me feel sort of defeated, because Minnie Driver is delightful in this movie.)
On the whole, as a story about the lives of these young women, Circle of Friends is pretty remarkable. The three main characters — Benny, Eve and Nan — are each presented as complete, thoughtful, deftly drawn, fully realized characters. They each have their own lives, their own perspectives, their own desires, and their own motivations. Nan moved to the city when she was young, so she’s a bit more worldly and aspiring than the other girls. She has her eyes on a good marriage and a life out of poverty and tries to manipulate her way into it a couple different ways. But she’s not just some caricature villain of the tale, because after she’s caught in her lies she does suck it up and take the consequences she’s brought about with apologies to those she’s hurt. And while Eve is maybe the most practical and “moral” of the group, she’s also a spitfire, and when she gets angry over Nan’s betrayal she’s a terrifying force. Benny, though, is simply wonderful. Her insecurities about her weight, see, do not define her. Indeed, Benny is one of the most self-possessed young women on film. She knows who she is, speaks her mind, questions the status quo, doesn’t rely on blind faith — even though she’s a devout and principled Catholic — and when Jack comes back to her at the end, she knows herself well enough to know that she could fall in love with him again but that he has to prove to her it’s worth it, because he broke her heart and it can’t just be fixed with an apology. It takes time, and she makes that clear to him, while not closing off her heart to him entirely. She’s just a wholly unique and fantastic character, on every level.
Circle of Friends may have faded into the background of ’90s film history. I see it playing on TV from time to time but I don’t know a lot of people who are familiar with it or who have seen it anywhere near as often as I have. I suppose superficially it’s an unremarkable plot and possibly a somewhat forgettable movie. But it’s always been one I’ve thoroughly enjoyed, one that’s stuck with me. What more can you ask for from a film?
Viable Option 