Rent Gregory's Girl (1980)

Short, brilliant film about teenage angst - Gregory's Girl review by RP

A short, brilliant film by Bill Forsyth that tells the story of teenage angst in a Scottish new town.

Gregory is a gangling, awkward young man who is besotted by Dorothy, who outclasses all the boys in the school football team. Gregory and his friends yearn for their first encounter with the opposite sex, but are so awkward that they really don't know how – perhaps a situation we've all been in? It is of course the girls who set the ball rolling, and Gregory has a series of encounters which culminate in kisses with Susan. Perhaps he was not so infatuated with Dorothy as he at first thought...

I first saw this film some 30 years ago and it still holds its charm - and humour - today. Yes, the haircuts and clothes may be dated and perhaps the age of teenage innocence has passed, but the awkwardness of our teens persists. 5/5 stars. Highly recommended.

Teen Comedy Drama - A Little dated - Gregory's Girl review by GI

A slightly whimsical coming of age comedy drama set in Scotland in the early 1980s and a film that was popular as a sexual awakening narrative but is very much of its time and viewed today does seem very dated. Gregory (John Gordon Sinclair) is a lanky teenager who has an easy going nature but he becomes infatuated with Dorothy (Dee Hepburn), a girl at his school who successfully tries out for the boy's football team where she is soon the star player. As Gregory fawns around her he fails to notice that another girl, Susan (Clare Grogan) really likes him until she hatches a plan with Dorothy to get on a date with Gregory. A film where the boys are incompetently sex obsessed and the girls have a new maturity that allows them to manipulate accordingly. There's a charm to this gentle comedy which is worth checking out of you've never seen it.

Little Charmer - Gregory's Girl review by Steve

This Scottish high school comedy was released well before Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), so really it inspired a whole new Hollywood genre. And this is despite the ultra-low budget, the amateur cast and a score which sounds borrowed from the music library at the Children's Film Foundation.

Gregory (John Gordon Sinclair) falls for the new female centre forward (Dee Hepburn) in his school's hopeless football team and discovers he in turn is being pursued... Well, most teenage viewers at the time preferred Clare Grogan anyway. Though romantically, he'd be out of his depth in a puddle.

But woah! He's a 15 year old boy. It's about the awkwardness of male adolescence and first love, but without any of the darkness. The whimsical comedy is fun but not hilarious. Yet these eccentric kids with their weird obsessions and naive misunderstandings make up in charm what they lack in authenticity. 

The lack of sophistication  is one of the attractions. These are all nerds and no jocks. And no cheerleaders. Credit to writer-director Bill Forsyth for making something seminal out of almost nothing. And tells us that when it comes to dating; the boys may do the asking, but it's the girls who get to decide.