Romancefest 3: Sadiefest - Gregory's Girl

GREGORY’S GIRL was right up my alley. This charming Scottish coming of age comedy from the 1980s follows the trials and tribulations of Gregory (John Gordon Sinclair), an awkward and offbeat but generally happy teenager who develops a crush when a girl replaces him on the soccer team. This is the fresh-faced Dee Hepburn as a tomboy who does not look like a tomboy, out-playing the boys on the field while stunning them with her looks.

The movie is not overly concerned with plot and takes the time to offer us several glimpses into the day to day life of the students and faculty of this small Scottish high school. We get to know the soccer coach (Jake D’Arcy) who is reluctant to let a girl onto the team, Gregory’s best friend (Robert Buchanan) who has even worse luck with girls than Gregory does, and Gregory’s home ec partner (William Greenlees) who is more interested in cooking and selling his pastries than scoring with chicks. There’s also the cute girl who seems to have an interest in Gregory (Clare Grogan) that Gregory can’t quite see, yet.

This film has a laidback, affable style to it that seemed somewhat familiar to me, so I was not surprised when I looked up the film’s writer/director and found out it was Bill Forsyth, who made the great LOCAL HERO, which also takes place in a sleepy Scottish village full of friendly characters.

All of the performers are very natural and engaging, especially Sinclair as Gregory. This is all the more effective because most of the cast is made up of young actors, many of them teenagers, and don’t come off as either too fake or too precious, as they might in a more contrived, less well observed film.

There are no major tragedies or triumphs in GREGORY’S GIRL and the movie will not have you on the edge of your seat, but it does cast a nice, nostalgic spell that just made me feel good. Part of that was the relief of no longer being in “that awkward phase,” but another part of it was the knowledge that a nice guy like Gregory will turn out all right and look back and remember all of his little adventures fondly one day.

Sadie says:

This flick had Paul written all over it. Coming of age plot, the United Kingdom, and a snapshot of a time and place. It's a triple threat type of movie with amazing acting, awesome accents, and awkward adolescents.