Conference bookie::movies

267.0. "Gregory's Girl" by 6179::VALENZA (eman lanosrep polf pilf) Mon Jul 26 1993 12:51

    This movie came up for discussion recently in rec.arts.movies, so I
    thought I would start a topic on it here.  I haven't seen this movie in
    several years, but it remains one of my favorites.  It seemed to me
    that most of the film critics liked "Local Hero", which was the
    director's followup, better than they liked "Gregory's Girl".  Maybe
    the explanation was that none of those critics happened to have
    experienced life as an awkward adolescent male; having been one myself,
    the movie really spoke to me in a very special way.

    This film, set in Scotland, tells the story of Gregory, a teenager who
    has a crush on a girl who has joined the football (soccer) team--and who
    is much better at the sport than he is.  His awkward attempts at
    connecting with her are charming, and often quite funny.  The sexual
    role reversal in this scenario is subtly echoed in at least one other
    aspect of the film--best cook in the home economics class is a male
    student, and no one seems to give that fact any thought.

    The movie seems to capture the turmoil of male adolescence in some
    really poignant ways--such as in the relationship between Gregory and
    his father.  One of the boys in school, who always seemed to know a
    "well known fact" about this or that thing (which might actually not be
    true at all), simply had no luck with girls whatsoever.  The ending of
    movie showed a funny (and yet, in a way, sad) scene involving his and
    his friend's quest for romance.

    Throughout the movie, were many little quirky and funny aspects of life
    in the school, often expressed by equally quirky and funny characters,
    and the film was never mean spirited.  The main story revolved around
    Gregory's crush, and the unexpected way it was finally resolved was
    quite entertaining and pleasant to watch.

    3.5 stars out of 4.

    -- Mike

    Definitely one of my favorite movies.  Did you see his earlier "That
    Sinking Feeling" with many of the same cast?
    
    I think his later movies went down hill.
    

    "Local Hero" edges out "Gregory's Girl" by just a bit for me, but they
    are both delightful films.
    
    The only Forsyth film I found to have a very different mood from his
    patented style is "Housekeeping" - a somewhat dark film.
    
    Bill Forsyth to date:
    
      "That Sinking Feeling" (1979)
      "Gregory's Girl" (1981)
      "Local Hero" (1983)
      "Comfort and Joy" (1984)
      "Housekeeping" (1987)
      "Breaking In" (1989)
    
    Has Bill Forsyth done anything since "Breaking In"?
    
    Trivia fun fact: Claire Grogan (C.P. Grogan) who appeared in "Gregory's
    Girl" and "Comfort and Joy" was lead singer for the band "Altered
    Images".
    
    - Dave

    
     Not that this means anything But GG was filmed in Cumbernauld(where I
    live).I suppose this happens in a lot of films but I thought it was
    funny to see them walk into a tunnel in one end of the town and when
    they got out of the tunnel they were on the other side of town.
    
    SCott

Forsyth has something in the works called "Being Human" that was at
least originally scheduled for a September release.  Don't know anything more.

    Great film. when I was at college, if we thought someone was a jerk we
    used to do our best John Gordon StClair voice and say ...
    
    "What an incredible guy, absolutley inncredible guy"
    
    (the boy who owns the white jacket)