American Friends

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You can stream American Friends (1991) on Amazon Prime with a subscription.

Francis Ashby, a senior Oxford don on holiday alone in the Alps, meets holidaying American Caroline and her companion Elinor, the blossoming Irish-American girl she adopted many years before. Ashby finds he enjoys their company, particularly that of Elinor, and both the women are drawn to him. Back at Oxford he is nevertheless taken aback when they arrive unannounced. Women are not allowed in the College grounds, let alone the rooms. Indeed any liaison, however innocent, is frowned on by the upstanding Fellows.

A delightfully eccentric Oxford don finds his solitary Alpine holiday upended by two spirited American women. This gentle comedy trades heavy drama for awkward, charming encounters that capture the peculiar friction between British reserve and transatlantic enthusiasm.