Very well executed

Just so...so bad

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

Set in London, seven young people try to sort out their relationship issues - or lack of them.Fergus (David Morrissey) comes to London to try and find the girl Mo, (Jane Horrocks) that he jilted eight years before. He does find her and tries to win her back.Eddie (Jimi Mistry) is a petty thief and all round loser. He meets a slightly strange but adorable self-employed grave decorator, Jocelyn (Catherine McCormack), steals her purse, tries to mug her at a strangely remote ATM, then tries to court her! They have one of the best scenes of the movie when she rescues his deranged dad and brings him home.Then there is Frankie, (Craig Ferguson) trying to divorce his wife but still living in the same house. They are both seeking new partners which leads to problems about sharing space. Eleanor (Olivia Williams), his new girl, is so elegant, slightly remote but very nice too.Jimmy (Adrian Lester) is a taxi driver who knows them all, and knows lots about them, and hands out advice. He links the various events together very effectively. All the characters go to a dance club doing salsa (whatever that is?) and this helps link the characters too.The acting is great, there are some really good scenes and dialogue, but I've only rated it 9 because the scenes at the cab company are unnecessary and unpleasant.

An ensemble rom-com that requires a love of salsa. If this love is lacking in the audience, they will often be bored. The opening is set in the salsa club that connects the characters, is long and dull and drenched in a cheap-looking murky red, which isn't going to snag the interest of a passing viewer. This is reprised throughout the film along with drawn out shots of London roads, adding to the lethargic and depressing tone.However, Born Romantic does have an interesting set up, once it gets around to it, and each of the three male leads have intriguing back stories. Fergus has come to London to find the love he jilted eight years ago. Frankie lives in a sinking house with his ex-wife. Eddie is a petty thief looking after his senile father. Unfortunately their female equivalents are less developed. Mo is a slag (broken heart), Eleanor a snob (high standards) and Jocelyn a kook (fear of death). It feels very much that each couple ends up together only because there isn't space in the film for them to think about meeting anyone else and the ending is unsatisfactory because from all signs the relationships between Fergus and Mo, and Frankie and Eleanor are doomed, with them only getting together because they are tired of fighting. The sweeter relationship between Eddie and Jocelyn may last, but these two characters have the least depth in reality so it is hard to consider them real people at all.Fergus, Frankie and Eddie pursue their ladies, their stories connected by a salsa club and a widower taxi driver, but while individual scenes can be enlightening and well crafted, they are never enough. The whole film suffers from its disjointed nature and it ultimately has too many characters and plots to give any the depth they deserve. While this is the risk of all ensemble films, Born Romantic doesn't have anything else to it to fall back on.

*Spoilers may be contained in this comment*Okay, I admit it, I only watched this film because it was the only thing in the TV pages of a certain magazine that was a film, and not on SKY telly. That's the only reason I bothered staying up until 11:30pm to watch it. I have to admit, the knowledge that Jane Horrocks and Jimmi Mistry were in it made me think that it should be good, seeing as both these actors have been in some of the funniest things I've seen, but in truth, the whole film was just a stream of drivel.It could have been good, if they had focussed on just one couple, instead of on all three, also, it just wasn't funny. The funniest bits were the fleabag Eddie (Jimi Mistry) trying to rob his girlfriend, (by accident) a clued up cab driver, and an innocent bystander, and the bit where an ashtray falls off a table. That's how dull this movie is. Oh, and when Fergus still has his socks on in bed, that made me giggle a bit. Only watch this if you suffer from insomnia.

This is a typical everyone's looking for love type of story. It's predictable, has a happy ending, and lots of great British accents (very important for us anglophiles).There are three points that would make me own this film: 1. Adrian Lester was BRILLIANT. He's a philosopher cabbie that shuttles the main characters through the movie. He's deep, he's human, and he's got his own issues. I loved him. 2. Jane Horrocks was good in an unusually straight forward role. No faces, no voices, just Jane. 3. There is a scene with Tabasco sauce that had me almost on the floor. Worth the price of admission.It's not a "great film" and won't bear up under analysis. But it's a heck of a lot of fun.