The Moments that bond us

There are those parties which go down in history; where everything which can happen, does, and it becomes woven into the history of your friendship. For me it was a party at my friend Alex's houses, where Richard fell through the ceiling, Alex fell asleep on a trampoline and I found myself a girlfriend. For Sam, Lauren, Kirsten and Karen, who we met last night, it was a New Year's Eve Party.

"Was I there", asks Karen. The others all start laughing.
"The one with Cheryl"
Karen bursts out laughing. "Oh yeah. God that was a good party." Kirsten had invited all her best friends, from uni, school and work. Karen told us about her run in with Cheryl, an immaculately dressed mutual acquaintance.
"Well first I kept calling her Helen, which obviously she wasn't too keen on. Then later on in the evening, I was plastered, and she was looking around for her cardigan, I think it was Vivienne Westwood- and there was I- standing on it and using it to clean the floor."
Sam cuts in, "And Karen said, "Sorry Helen"." They all burst out laughing.
"And James met Mo Mowlem!" We look at Lauren, a bit taken aback. "Yeah, he was wondering home afterward and he got a picture with her"

You get the impression there are a hundred other stories mutually remembered at that moment, as the whole evening rushes back to them as a group.

The Richard Curtis dynamic

If you were to list directors known for Rom-Coms, Richard Curtis would surely be the top of the list. From Four Weddings to Love Actually, he has always dealt with modern love. When he directed The Boat that Rocked, his most recent film, many felt it was a radical change of direction, as he focused his sights on friendship instead.

However looking over his back catalogue, it is a series of films where friendship is central. From Bridget Jones and Four Weddings, mentioned below, to Love Actually, Notting hill and even The Vicar of Dibley. In all of them the central character (often played by Hugh Grant), is surrounded by a group of loveable and close friends. In fact it is only through this caring and compassionate group that he can survive the torments of love. Friendship is the eternal, solid relationship.

But I think it is also that while we might watch the film longing for a wild romance like those depicted, we are more likely to identify with the friends. They are a model of loving, comfortable friendship who amass experiences together, intuitively understand each other and remain a constant part in each others lives regardless of what is happening around them. It is the relationship that, while being most important to us, is forever overlooked and ignored.