Cast Anna Friel as Marina Anna Popplewell as Young Marina Michelle Williams as Holly Rossman Ella Jones as Young Holly Rossman Kyle MacLachlan as Daniel Oliver Milburn as Nat Cameron Powrie as Young Nat Trudie Styler as Linda Marianne Denicourt as Isabel Adrian Lukis as Leo Steve John Shepherd as Carl Allan Corduner as Max Nicky Henson as Ray Reception On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 66% based on 65 reviews. On Metacritic the film has a score of 67% based on reviews from 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3 and a half stars and said the film "has a bracing truth that's refreshing after the phoniness of female-bonding pictures like Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood." He said that the film's treatment of character of Daniel was "rare" for a film of this sort in that had a "depth" "instead of simply being used as a plot ploy." He called Williams' performance a "surprise" for having a "perfectly convincing British accent, and is cuddly and smart both at once." Stephen Holden of The New York Times wrote: "Under its drab contemporary trappings, the movie, is really a Jane Austen-like moral parable in which goodness is rewarded and selfishness punished." Lou Carlozo of the Chicago Tribune praised the on screen chemistry between Friel and Williams. Critic Richard Nilsen, said "Although the film deserves some points for trying to describe the intensity of best-friendship between girls, it fails to make them interesting people." Lou Lumenick of the New York Post called it "The kind of chick flick that gives chick flicks a bad name." Lumenick praised the performances but wrote "it plods on with a wearying predictability and some truly terrible dialogue." References External links 2001 films 2000s female buddy films 2001 drama films British female buddy films British coming-of-age drama films 2000s coming-of-age drama films Films set in the 1980s Films set in Brighton Films set in England Fireworks Entertainment films 2000s English-language films 2000s British films