New Years Eve, 1982 In England, we are introduced to Peter Morton (Stephen Fry), Andrew Benson (Kenneth Branagh), Roger Charleston (Hugh Laurie), Mary (Imelda Staunton), Maggie (Emma Thompson), and Sarah (Alphonsia Emmanuel), members of a Cambridge University acting troupe, who perform a silly and unconventional farewell revue for Peter's father (Richard Briers) and his unresponsive conservative guests at a New Year's Eve dinner ushering in the new year. They gather in the kitchen afterward and take a photograph to commemorate their last performance together. Ten years later; December 30, 1992. Peter has inherited his father's estate after Lord Morton's passing some months earlier. Uncertain if he will keep the mansion or sell it, Peter has invited his five friends for a New Year's Eve party for the weekend and convinces his stern housekeeper, Vera (Phyllida Law), to stay until the new year. Andrew, now a television writer/producer in Hollywood, California, flies to England with his American wife, Carol Benson (Rita Rudner), a famous actress and the star of his television comedy program. Roger and Mary are married TV commercial writers/producers living in suburban Birmingham, and she is worried about leaving their infant son, Ben, with a nanny. Frumpy Maggie, a struggling writer/publisher, asks an old lady neighbor of hers to look after her flat as she leaves pictures of herself for her pet cat, who appears unconcerned over her departure. On a train to Peter's estate, Sarah, now a costume designer living in London, has sex with her new lover, Brian (Tony Slattery), a stage actor that she works with in their cabin. The train arrives at the station where Sarah and Brian disembark and meet with Maggie, who has just arrived on the same train. Maggie, Sarah and Brian are soon greeted by Vera's teenage son, Paul (Alex Lowe), a chauffeur and handyman, who drives them to the estate, arriving just as Andrew and Carol arrive in a rented limo. Soon after, Roger and Mary arrive in their own car. Right after they arrive, Mary phones their nanny to check in. As everyone settles into their rooms, Sarah and Brian have sex once again, while Roger and Mary quarrel over whether she calls home too often. Meanwhile, Carol investigates Vera's cooking. Dismayed by the high-calorie rich food, Carol attempts to bribe Vera to accommodate her diet, to no avail. While Maggie and Andrew stroll the grounds, she reveals her lack of a love life. However, her company published a self-help book titled 'You May Already Know Your Mate', which claims friends can be marriage material. Although Maggie questions whether Peter is homosexual, she thinks he is the right man for her and plans to help him realize they should be together. At dinner, Carol and Sarah's boyfriend, Brian, both outsiders, are introduced to everyone, and Carol discovers that Brian is the only person who has seen her television show. As Peter toasts his friends, Brian and Sarah rudely ignore the others to focus on each other. She apologizes, claiming that she and Brian have not been together for very long and they get carried away with sex. As Mary excuses herself to call home yet again, Brian questions Roger about his work and learns that he and Mary are the top commercial jingle writers in England. When Mary returns, Brian asks if they use their twin children in their TV commercials. Mary rushes off crying and Brian learns that one of Roger and Mary's twins recently died. Later, as the friends drink coffee, Mary answers the telephone and announces that Brian's wife is calling. While he takes the call, Sarah reveals that he is married and has a child, but plans to divorce his wife. Although Sarah insists that Brian is different than her previous lovers, Mary is certain she is repeating her old pattern, and reminds everyone that Sarah was in love with Andrew until he dumped his girlfriend and asked Sarah to marry him, at which point she lost interest. This is news to Carol, who excuses herself. Brian returns and announces that he has just left his wife by telling her everything. Feeling vindicated, Sarah hugs him. Andrew joins his wife upstairs and Carol notes they planned to work out the difficulties in their marriage this weekend, and wonders why he never mentioned his past dalliance with Sarah. When he rejoins his friends downstairs, the group sings together again. Brian, left out of the singing, just watches. Minutes later, Mary receives a telephone call from the babysitter relating that her son has a slight cold, but the doctor says he is fine. Mary wants to leave, but Maggie convinces her to stay for the night and check on her son in the morning. Upstairs, Roger admits to Mary that although he still loves her, he has thought of ending their marriage because she blames him for their twin #1 son's death. Mary sobs that she knows she has been unreasonable, and Roger hugs her, promising to stay wit her. Meanwhile, Sarah is upset that Brian did not consult her before leaving his wife, noting they have only known each other for two weeks, and claims to be too tired to have sex with him. Later that night, Maggie goes to Peter's room, disrobes, and asks him to impregnate her. Peter is shocked and immediately turns her down. It is here that Peter reveals that he is bisexual, although he does not sleep with either men or women anymore. However, he insists that if he were having sex, Maggie would be high on his wish list. Embarrassed, Maggie begs him not to tell anyone. Downstairs in the kitchen, Maggie gets a drink and discovers Carol binge-eating leftover food. Maggie shares the story of her embarrassing visit to Peter's room, but believes there might still be hope since Peter is not sleeping with anyone. Carol insists Maggie is attractive beneath her frumpiness and offers to do a makeover, which Maggie accepts. The next morning, Carol leads Maggie into the kitchen, where Peter and Andrew admire her new look. Hearing sounds of lovemaking overhead, they assume it is Sarah and Brian. However, when Sarah enters the kitchen, everyone smiles as they realize the lovers are Roger and Mary. A little later, Carol receives a long-distance phone call from her agent in Hollywood and announces to Andrew and everyone else that she has been offered a film role which starts shooting right away on the day after New Years Day. Afterwards, Andrew asks if she will stay to work on their marriage, but she does not believe he will try. Outside, Sarah flirts with Vera's son, Paul, as he chops wood, but his attention is diverted when the newly made-over Maggie joins them. When Brian wanders outside, Sarah ignores him and rushes inside for a drink. She discovers that Andrew, a member of Alcoholics Anonymous, has abandoned his sobriety and is drinking whiskey. Andrew confides in Sarah that he thought his marriage to Carol would improve when they both stopped drinking, but everything became more complicated. He tells Sarah that she is addicted to romance, not reality, and that is why she abandons her lovers when they become available. A minute later, Sarah flirts with Andrew and as she kisses him, Carol walks into the room, sees them and becomes angry. She tells Andrew that she was going to refuse the film role, but now plans to leave again to catch the first plane back to California. Sarah heads upstairs, and sees Brian crying on the telephone as he talks to his son. When Brian joins her, Sarah admits the commitment issue is her problem and he should go back to his family. As she leaves, Sarah hears moans coming from Maggie's bedroom, and opens the door to discover Maggie having sex with Paul. Meanwhile, Roger and Mary continue to make love, and when the telephone rings, he wonders who is calling and Mary insists someone will let them know if it is for them. Downstairs, Peter helps Vera in the kitchen and learns she plans to retire. He wants her to stay if he keeps the house, but she declines because she disapproves of his lifestyle. Carol and Andrew have an argument where she declares that his unhappiness with himself is their primary marital problem, and she quickly packs up and leaves to return to Hollywood alone as the rented limo picks her up and drives away. Shortly afterword, Brian's wife picks him up in her car and they speed away. At dinner that evening, Roger and Mary join the others and admit they made love all day in their bedroom and only telephoned home twice. Andrew drunkenly joins the group where he profanely berates his friends, and turns his vitriol toward Peter, wondering if he invited them because everyone was having a difficult year and Peter wanted to "save" them. Here, Peter reveals he invited them because he wanted his closest friends to know that he was diagnosed as being HIV positive six months ago. Peter's sour revelation stuns everyone into heartbreaking silence as the midnight hour is upon them. As the clock strikes 12 midnight, Peter raises his glass and asks them to toast the new year of 1993. Peter's friends, Andrew, Roger, Mary, Maggie, and Sarah hesitate until Vera enters and toasts Peter. The others join the toast, and Andrew apologizes to everyone for his rude behavior. Peter reveals he does not have AIDS yet, and it is possible that a cure might be discovered in time to save him. Peter joins Vera in the kitchen and she asks why he did not tell her that he is HIV positive. Peter explains that he thought she, a highly religious person, would consider it a deserved punishment for his bisexual lifestyle, but Vera insists she has loved him since he was a child. In the final scene, Peter rejoins the others and brings out their funny group picture from 1982 (taken in the opening scene). The friends laugh as they sing together once again as the film ends.
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