Circle of Friends (1995)


Chris O'Donnell         Jack
Minnie Driver           Benny
Geraldine O'Rawe        Eve
Saffron Burrows         Nan
Alan Cumming            Sean
Colin Firth             Simon Westward
Aidan Gillen            Aidan
Mick Lally              Dan Hogan
Britta Smith            Mrs Hogan
John Kavanaugh (II)     Brian Mahon
Ruth McCabe             Emily Mahon
Ciaran Hinds            Professor Flynn
Tony Doyle              Dr Foley
Marie Mullen            Mrs Foley
Marie Conmee            Mrs Healy
Gerry Walsh             Mr Flood
Sean McGinley           Mr Duggan
Tom Hickey              Professor Maclure

Directed by:            Pat O Connor
Produced by:            Terence Clegg, Rod Stoneman, Arlene Sellers


Three childhood girlfriends from rural Ireland are reunited in college, ready to experience life to the 
fullest. Eve, Nan and Benny meet handsome young men and instantly fall in love. Benny, a modest, self-conscious 
dreamer, sets her sights on Jack, the brightest and best-looking boy on campus, eventually capturing his 
attention with her wit and adventurous spirit. Benny has always relied on the people she loves--and the people 
who love her--in her circle of friends, but in matters of the heart she is sure to find the greatest joy of all. 

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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.