Review for Gregory's Girl

The phrase 'Timeless classic' gets used a lot when describing an old film and no more is that phrase misused and apt is in reference to Bill Forsyth's Gregory's Girl.

Gregory is an awkward school kid trying hard to make it through his awkward life. As with all schoolboys he has only a few things on his mind: football, sex and... well not much else. He is a player in his school's awful football team and is forced into goal by their newest star player... Who is a girl? Upon seeing Dorothy, Gregory falls madly in love with her and then tries anything and everything to impress her and get her to go out on a date. But is she even the girl for him?

I absolutely adore this film. This is a film that feels timeless, yet looks like it is stuck in the 70s/80s. However, if you ignore the fashions, the crazy hairstyles and the general strangeness, this could easily be set anytime. I say 'strangeness' as there is a overall creepiness to how women, particularly girls are portrayed and interacted with in this film. This is something that would never happen today, with teachers talking about receiving cakes and love poems and random older men wolf whistling at the school girls going by.

However, I can ignore all of this and say this is such a simple, funny and wonderful story that I can't help but enjoy it every time I see it. Anyone who has ever fallen head over heels with someone will understand Gregory's interaction and his attempts to ask Dorothy out are just perfect comedy. This is all surrounded by other characters who are either obsessed with cooking or sex with one wanting to go to Caracas in South America because the ratio if 8 women to every one man.

Bill Forsyth's script is just brimming with humour and it is such a gentle film that when you compare it with most British films you wonder how it was made at all. The film is often voted as one of the Best British Films of all times and even won a well deserved BAFTA for the Screenplay. It is not surprising that it was a huge critical and commercial success making £25 million, which may not seem like much from today's standards, but the fact it only cost £200,000 to make shows just how successful Forsyth was with such a limited budget.

Extras include an interview with Clare Grogan about her time on the film, it's a shame that neither John Gordon-Sinclair or Dee Hepburn contribute in any way. This interview is fine and though she does have an important role in the film it could hardly be classed as worthy of a 'memories' interview. Bill Forsyth - The Early Years is an interview with the Writer/Director and is pretty interesting if you want to know how he got into the business and how he came to make the film

Crown Jewel of this Blu-ray is the commentary between Director/Writer Bill Forsyth and noted film critic Mark Kermode. This is a fascinating commentary and you can tell that not only does Forsyth enjoy reliving his memories about making the film, but Kermode genuinely enjoys the film and talking to Forsyth about it.

One of the more fascinating features is the inclusion of the US Audio mix and it is amazing that it's not a complete car crash. I didn't watch the whole film with this, but it was interesting to see how they dubbed the voices perfectly with a toned down Scottish accent and it still worked.

Gregory's Girl is almost the perfect British Comedy. It does not rely on big names, surreal gags or any other cheap tricks. Instead this is a film that is just open and honest and this is really where all the humour lies and this film scores a winning goal with that!