MovieChat Forums > Circle of Friends (1995) Discussion > I'm confused - can you help me?

I'm confused - can you help me?

posted 20 years ago by trpdean
16 replies | jump to latest

I feel like the version I saw on television missed a whole section. When we last see Nan, she was pregnant and being ministered to by her fiance Chris O'Donnell (marrying her because she's pregnant and he believes she's carrying his child). Nan had just hurt her arm breaking the window. We don't see her again in the movie.

Then when we see Chris O'Donnell - he proposes to Minnie Driver - but I thought he was engaged! I thought Nan was in a fix because she was pregnant. I thought O'Donnell thought the baby was his. So what's he doing trying to get engaged to two people? Were theres some scenes missing -- in which he learns the baby isn't his, gets mad at Nan, has some big break-up scene with Nan? Are we meant to think this all happened before he proposes to another girl (Driver)? I'm confused. What happened to the Nan-O'Donnell relationship?
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[–] vicki-59 20 years ago

The baby wasn't Jack's, it was Simon's (played by Colin Firth). When Simon wouldn't mary Nan, she seduced Jack knowing he'd do the "right thing". I think it is at the party that Jack learns the baby isn't his and the engagement is off.

[–] trpdean 20 years ago

Yes, I know the baby isn't his and how it happened. But no, we don't see Jack learning any of this or breaking off the engagement.

We see him ministering to Nan at the party with a tourniquet - then we next see him in the shop with Minnie Driver, saying that he took Nan to the hospital and discovered that he's happy with becoming a doctor --

--unless television cut certain scenes where he does learn, does end the engagement, etc.

But so far as we can see, since Jack has learned nothing - why does he now propose to a second person? Why does he no longer feel he should marry Nan? Are we meant to believe that Nan went on to have her baby? It's so strange that we see Nan from the beginning of the film - and then she's simply GONE after she hurts her arm.

[–] jtste1 20 years ago

Some stuff must have been left out because while there is no scene which actually shows nan telling jack (chris o'donnell) that it isn't his baby there IS a scene where he is at an airport or ship-port (can't think of what thats called :-/) and NAN is leaving to go to england but i'm not sure if it was for good or whether it was to get rid of the baby. Either way they were breaking up and she was leaving.

--It's funny that people pay $5 for evian, but i guess it is NAIVE spelt backwards!--

[–] paintbrush_2003 20 years ago

I don't remember about the movie, but in the book Nan miscarries while in the hospital. (Although in the book, Jack never finds out the baby wasn't his. After the miscarriage, the two decide not to marry.)

[–] mcfly85 20 years ago

I know this is an old post, but I'll try to answer your question anyway. The version you saw must have had a scene cut out - that scene when Nan is leaving Dublin. The movie never does specifically show Nan confessing to Jack (or him finding out), but his knowledge of her deception is perfectly clear as he sees her off - presumably she is going to England or somewhere else to do something about her baby. We know that she is not having an abortion, so maybe she's going off to a relative until the baby is born, or something. In those days pregnant girls were sent away to avoid scandal and gossip.

As Jack and Nan say goodbye, she basically apologizes to him for the whole pregnancy entrapment, and urges him to go and be with Benny. He is really just there to see her off as a friend at this point.

The next thing that happens with Jack is him going to see Benny at the shop and telling her that he really DOES want to be a doctor, etc. That's where he tries to win her back by showing her how much he's changed and grown and that he really loves her, followed by her being WAY too nice and understanding. Hope that clarifies.

**He may have ocean madness, but that's no excuse for ocean rudeness.**

[–] aml_del 20 years ago

I always thought that she had left to avoid the scandal/gossip that would certainly have started after the party. Eve was shouting pretty loud and it seems that all of their friends (as well as Jack) would have known after that tirade that Nan had used Jack.

I also thought that it was implied that she had lost the baby after cutting her arm at the party. She lost a lot of blood and her body may not have been able to support the pregnancy afterwards.

I loved this movie and book so much and I may be confusing the two story-lines a tad. What I found truly remarkable is that there is only one single scene in the entire movie identical to the book.

I'm not good or real... I'm evil, and imaginary

[–] Hey_Losechester 20 years ago

I've never read the book . . . which scene is identicle???

[–] aml_del 20 years ago

I believe the identical scene is the one where Eve is threatening Nan at the party. When she is coming at Nan with a bread knife in her hand.

It has been so log since I read that book though.

I'm not good or real... I'm evil, and imaginary

[–] whats_their_name 20 years ago

thats funny considering its such a key moment in the movie, and it just happense to be exactly like the scene in the book. lol

[–] nw_sea1 9 years ago

I think the scene where Eve confronts Nan is the only scene that's the same in both the book and the movie!

[–] trpdean 19 years ago

Thanks, mcfly. Yes, in the televised version I saw, that whole scene of Nan leaving Ireland was cut out! So we go directly from Nan hurting her arm and him taking her to the hosptial to him showing up to propose.

It was completely baffling, since he had just gotten engaged to Nan whom he believed was expecting his baby - and now he's proposing again!

[–] mcfly85 19 years ago

That would be confusing. You should really try to find the uncut version - it's such a great movie, and it makes a lot more sense that way.

"This is the third hose fight I've broken up today, and the second using actual hoses." ~Leela

[–] jimmyjimjojo 19 years ago

Nan miscarried the baby when she fell.

[–] mcfly85 19 years ago

That's possible, but then why did Nan have to leave at the end, if not to cover the disgrace of being unmarried and pregnant?

"This is the third hose fight I've broken up today, and the second using actual hoses." ~Leela

[–] rdp0716 19 years ago

Nan miscarried the baby after falling through the door. The hospital is discreet about the pregnancy and the miscarriage because she isn't married. We don't see it on screen, but Jack learns the baby isn't his. He then sees Nan off to England where she is going to study fashion. It's his way of showing his forgiveness in the deception.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

You missed the scene where Nan is at the station leaving for England, and says bye to Jack, and also to give her love to Benny. Obviously Nan had cleared things up and so Jack was no longer going to be stuck with her.