Gay Best Friend: Peter (Stephen Fry) in "Peter's Friends" (1992)
Friday, November 5, 2021 at 7:38PM A series by Christopher James looking at the 'Gay Best Friend' trope
Who wouldn't want a 10 year college reunion in their rich friend's new mansion?I love a good Big Chill type set-up.
Yes, I do love the actual 1983 movie The Big Chill. However, the hit film has itself spawned an entire genre of movies and TV. How many movies have you seen where an attractive ensemble of longtime friends spend a weekend away and come to terms with central truths within the friendship. There’s always as many laughs as there are tears. The uptight people finally get drunk or stoned and loosen up. Party animals gain new depth. A collection of the greatest hits of decades past are played throughout, usually with an accompanying singalong. I eat all of it up, no matter how predictable it may be.
One of the finer entries in the genre is Kenneth Branagh’s 1992 film Peter’s Friends. It’s more than just the English re-telling of The Big Chill. The film is simultaneously a pricklier and warmer examination of what friends do and don’t tell each other...