Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Oh my, this has to be one of my most favourite films of all, all time. Gordon Sinclair was made for this role, with his gangly, clumsy physique. Who really hasn't a chance in hell with Dorothy, the one with the hair and the teeth and the smell!I also love it that the teachers are shown as overgrown twats, just like the kids. Although I do find the comments made by the adults about the young girls very near the knuckle. Which I'm sure does go on in the staff room.I love Andy going on about 'the big trucks' and the one that just stuffs his face throughout the whole film. Only to open his gob at the end to suggest that Karacus was mispelt after four hours of attempting to hitch hike!Anyone that doesn't appreciate the beauty of this innocent, vulnerable film about your first love is a bloody pratt!!!

The soundtrack, the 80s-ness, the odd pacing are a total put-off out of the gate. At first it looks like it might be like 100s of movies since--stupid vehicles of storylessness built to sell tickets, or at least rentals, or at least late-night premium cable channel time slots. Don't be misled--this just might be the most charming ugly-styled, lumpy-paced, horribly-scored movie you've ever seen. Tremendous frank, simple work from the cast. With a rare and extraordinary attention to the goofy, pointless detail, a.k.a., y'know, "life". There is plenty to overlook, I suppose, but it didn't demand a great effort to do so. Hats off to all involved.

When one thinks of the best school based films this gem is often overlooked in favour of well known American films which is a shame as Gregory's Girl is just as good. It certainly has a very British feel to it, Gregory plays in the school's football team which has lost every match of their season, instead of shouting at the team the coach wearily holds a try out for new players. The only person trying out who is any good is Dorothy... the coach doesn't want a girl on the team but reluctantly lets her join as he really has nothing to lose. As soon as he sees her play Gregory falls in love with her and sets about getting a date with her.John Gordon Sinclair does a great job as awkward teenager Gregory and there is a fine supporting cast including Dee Hepburn as Dorothy, Clare Grogan as Susan, a friend of Dorothy's who likes Gregory and young Allison Forster who, in her only acting role, was delightful as Gregory's sister Madeline. It helps that the main actors aren't in their mid-twenties and the school is clearly populated by children.While the main plot is obviously about Gregory there are also plenty of other interesting characters including two boys who work for the school magazine who make money selling photographs of Dorothy in an unofficial shop they've set up in the boys' toilets, here we also see Gregory's brother selling assorted pastries and various boys having a smoke. Even though there are lots of surreal moments this film seems to be one of the most realistic portrayals of a school; the children all seem like real school children, at least from a British perspective. We don't have the standard group of cliques we would get in a US school drama and nobody really cares that the football team is useless.I'd certainly recommend this film to anybody wanting a good laugh and a fairly accurate depiction of life at a British School.

When first released Gregory's Girl was shown on a double bill with Chariots of Fire, another film which I've reviewed. I also think, due to the time it came out, the early 1980s when cinema seemed to be a dying art form, this led to it being a bit over-rated but it's definitely not a bad film. It's a comedy but not a laugh out loud comedy, in fact the humour is very gentle. One might also say it's a feminist movie. Dorothy is battling sexism to be up there with the guys, the girls are portrayed as smart and sorted out and the guys are portrayed as nerdy and awkward. In some ways now it looks almost as dated as an Ealing comedy. All the guys are having a bad hair day and the film is from an era when there was no internet and there were no mobile phones. The architecture that forms the backdrop is very cold and unwelcoming and some of the film takes place in Cumbernauld Town Centre, which has been officially named as the worst piece of architecture in Europe. Nowadays no guy would ever dress for a first date the way Gregory does. Times have changed a lot since this was made. If workmen wolf-whistled at schoolgirls nowadays they'd run the risk of being arrested! Gregory's Girl shows that a good film can be made on a microscopic budget. But, as I said, because the film industry was in decline when it was made, this led to it being a bit overrated. Also, in those days if you were born in Scotland, female and of school age and you had talent in some area you became Scotland's Darling! This happened to Dee Hepburn just as it happened a few years earlier to Lena Zavaroni. Dee's role in the film is surprisingly not as big as one might expect. But she was hyped a bit out of proportion and depicted in the papers as a beautiful young woman with the world at her feet. She wasn't really that great an actress despite winning a Variety Club Award and her acting career faltered a few years later and she became a sales rep. I just hope though she doesn't realise it was me who wrote this comment, though. I once had a fleeting chance encounter with her and she's a very nice person. But, although Gregory's Girl is good, I prefer to remain in the 21st Century with regard to films about footballing females and Bend It Like Beckham is much much better.