Originally posted on 1/15/20
I remember seeing the promo for GREGORY'S GIRL (1980) back in the early 80s when it was on Cinemax, and although it looked harmless enough, I had no desire to actually watch it except maybe for the novelty of seeing Altered Images lead singer Clare Grogan in an acting role.
Now, however, I'm no longer trudging through the 80s but looking back on them through a haze of nostalgia, so the idea of watching this endearingly easygoing teen comedy appeals to me.
Oddly, it opens with what appears to be a sop to the PORKY'S crowd, with Gregory (Gordon John Sinclair, BRITANNIA HOSPITAL, LOCAL HERO, WORLD WAR Z) and his mates excitedly watching a young nurse disrobe in front of her window.
But they're not actually pressing their noses against the glass or peering into a hole drilled in a shower wall. In fact, they appear to be watching this apparent act of exhibitionism from behind a tree across the street. Not exactly a gang of lechers, these lads. (One of them even faints.) I would've stopped to look too.
The nice thing we discover about Gregory is that he's really just a normal high school kid who's well-meaning enough despite the usual faults. He's a tad irresponsible, doesn't take life all that seriously, and tends to be a stranger to his parents (the latter point is played for gentle laughs in a nice scene between Gregory and his driving-instructor dad, who we never see again).
He doesn't even get upset when his football coach tells him he's moving him from lead kicker to goalie and trying out new talent for their perpetually-losing team. This sets up the story's main plotline when a beautiful, athletic girl named Dorothy (Dee Hepburn, "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie") tries out and blows everyone else away with her skills, while stealing the lovesick Gregory's heart at the same time.
What follows is one of the most low-key and pleasantly realistic coming-of-age comedies that one could while away some time with. Gregory's attempts to overcome his shyness and make progress with the seemingly unattainable Dorothy are easily relatable and never played for cheap laughs.
And when his little sister Madeline (Allison Forster) tries to give him first-hand advice about girls even though she's years away from any actual romantic experience herself, it's heartwarming. Through it all, Gregory is so lighthearted and happy-go-lucky that even the agonies of teenage love can't keep him from strolling through life with a smile on his face.
Writer-director Bill Forsyth (LOCAL HERO) captures the flavor of smalltown Scotland with this pleasant diversion in which the teachers are barely out of school themselves (Gregory's mousey football coach is proud that his moustache is growing in) and his pals are interested in such things as photography, baking black market goodies in Home Ec to sell after school, and, of course, girls.
Or, in the case of his likably timid friend Andy (Robert Buchanan), standing on an overpass watching trucks go by because he read that so many tons of corn flakes pass beneath it every day.
All of this culminates in a delightful sequence in which Gregory's date with Dorothy goes from a non-event (she doesn't show up) to a lovely scheme by his other female friends to set him up with the girl who really has feelings for him.
This is where Altered Images lead singer Clare Grogan ("Red Dwarf") comes to the fore as classmate Susan, who joins Gregory for an evening of simply passing the time together.
That's what watching GREGORY'S GIRL is like, and what gives it such an unassuming charm. It's not often that I enjoy a movie so much simply because it's such an effortlessly placid and comforting look at everyday life and the modest pleasures that can be derived from living it.
Buy it from Film Movement Classics
Tech Specs
Film Movement Classics
1980
91 Minutes
United Kingdom
English
Comedy, Romance, Drama, Coming of Age
PG
Bonus Features
Audio Commentary with Bill Forsyth and Mark Kermode
Bill Forsyth on Gregory's Girl interview
Bill Forsyth - The Early Years interview
Gregory's Girl Memories interview with Clare Grogan
New essay by film scholar Jonathan Murray
Alternative U.S. and French dub versions
Sound: Stereo
Discs: 1
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