Circle of Friends

Kino

Love the Hard Way

Film.com's FREE movie of the week is "Love the Hard Way." Oscar-winner Adrien Brody and Charlotte Ayanna star in this drama about a thief who falls for a curious, beautiful young woman. As their intimacy grows, a slick cop (Pam Greer) is closing in.

CinemaSource

Rating: PG-13

Running Time: 110 mins.

Country Of Origin: Ireland

Country Of Origin: United States

starring: Chris O'Donnell, Minnie Driver, Geraldine O'Rawe, Saffron Burrows, Alan Cumming, Colin Firth, Aidan Gillen, Mick Lally, Britta Smith, John Kavanaugh

director: Pat O'Connor

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.

December 8, 2000

In this funny and touching fable of three colleens growing up near Dublin circa 1957, Minnie Driver is irresistible as Benny, the "big, soft girl" who thinks she's a wallflower. Saffron Burrows is the sophisticated Nan, and Geraldine O'Rawe is the convent-raised Eve. O'Rawe is the only Irish rose in the bunch; the others are Brits. American Chris O'Donnell took dialect lessons to play the Irish rugby star who brings out the woman in Benny. OK, the accents falter, but director Pat O'Connor…