ABOUT THE FILM: Circle of Friends is a story of first love, first kisses and first betrayals set in Ireland in the late 1950s. Three childhood friends - Eve, an orphan, quiet and observant; Nan, socially and sexually precocious; and Benny, a modest, selfconscious dreamer - leave their small hometown of Knockglen to attend college in Dublin. It doesn't take long for them to meet men and fall in love. But Benny, unsure of herself and scared of rejection, follows her heart out on a limb for Jack, the brightest, best-looking boy on the campus. Back home, Benny's parents are pushing her into a romance with obnoxious and duplicitous Sean, who works in the family store. Colin has a small role as Simon, the spoiled son of a country gentleman. Through out the film Simon refers to the Irish catholics as "you people"...

MY RATING: *** It's a well done, low-key and compelling film about growing up. CoF captures the adolescent sexual repression of the '50s, as well as the Irish Catholic undertones. Minnie Driver has the lead role and is absolutely luminous as shy, overweight Benny. Colin is convincing as the rich cad who "seduces" Nan but won't face the consequences.

Colin is virtually unrecognisable by a mustache: "I am generally so non descript that it always seems that they want to do something with me, to define me a little bit."
[The Observer, March 1997]

TRIVIA: Colin also worked with Minnie Driver the previous year in the London play Chatsky.

FROM A FILM REVIEW: Taking place in a small village in Ireland, where "people have long memories", Circle of Friends starts out as a story of three girlhood companions - Benny (Minnie Driver), Eve (Geraldine O'Rawe), and Nan (Saffron Burrows). For a short while, this film seems like it might be a pleasant, relaxed examination of friendship, until the trio head off to college in Dublin and meet dashing rugby star Jack Foley (Chris O'Donnell). From that point on, the movie becomes distressingly predictable, with nary a surprise to be found.

Of course, Benny and Jack are attracted to each other, but it takes a while -- and a tearful scene with Benny sitting alone at a dance -- before either is willing to admit it. No sooner have they gotten together than complications seek to pry them apart. Benny's father wants her to marry a local creep named Sean (Alan Cumming), but she intends to wed for love, not money. And Jack wants a little more sex than a good Catholic girl is willing to give. Meanwhile, Nan has become involved with a pedigreed Englishman (Colin Firth) and Eve is at work renovating a house willed to her by her dead parents. Though the narrative is creatively barren, the film is nevertheless well-acted. Minnie Driver brings a lot of spunk to her part, presenting a heroine who doesn't fit the model of a "typical" Hollywood beauty. If there's a reason to see Circle of Friends, it's for Driver's boundless energy, which enlivens a host of otherwise insipid scenes. [© 1995 James Berardinelli]

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