Gregory's Girl

"This enchanting comedy, made in Scotland and only the second feature to be written and directed by Mr. Forsyth, who is 33 years old, is one of the cheeriest unsentimental reports on the human condition since Francois Truffaut's ''Small Change,'' which it recalls because it, too, is almost entirely concerned with teen-agers and their juniors. Further, like Mr. Truffaut, Mr. Forsyth accepts nothing at face value. No character, emotion, gesture or response is too commonplace not to be re-examined and, in the process, miraculously seen anew. In this fashion, what might have been an ordinary comedy about the perils and pressures of growing up is transformed into something as exotic as a visit to another planet, a place that looks and sounds familiar but whose gravitational pull is about one-tenth of Earth's. Though Mr. Forsyth's dialogue frequently echoes the kind of mad reasonableness we associate with Jules Feiffer, and though Gregory and his sister, Madeline, are distant kin to Holden and Phoebe Caulfield, ''Gregory's Girl'' is a movie with an original, distinct personality. It floats effortlessly over its landscape, seeing all from a marvelously cockeyed perspective all its own."

"Bill Forsyth's “Gregory’s Girl” is a charming, innocent, very funny little movie.... The movie contains so much wisdom about being alive and teenaged and vulnerable that maybe it would even be painful for a teenager to see it; it's not much help, when you're suffering from those feelings of low self-esteem and an absolutely hopeless crush, to realize that not only are you in pain and suffering an emotional turmoil, but you're not even unique. Maybe only grown-ups should see this movie. You know, people who have gotten over the pains of unrequited love (hollow laugh)."

"“GREGORY’S GIRL” is a delightful surprise from of Scotland, not one of the recognized film capitals of the world. Bill Forsyth, formerly a maker of industrial films, made “Gregory’s Girl” for $400,000 with a cast of non-professionals. It provides more pure entertainment than many of Hollywood’s overproduced epics. "

"A funny and touching teen romance from Scottish director Bill Forsyth. While the plot is a straight, simple romance, the true charm of the film comes from its quirky characters, its general air of tolerance and good will and some irrepressible and delightfully absurd touches that creep (or waddle) along the periphery of the narrative. With this unpretentious little film, Forsyth decisively demonstrates that there was still life in the classic British comedy more than 30 years after its heyday."

"Quirky and utterly endearing."

"Was there ever a more charming film than Gregory's Girl? It may not contain many jokes, and there are only one or two laugh-out-loud moments, but almost every scene puts a smile on your face. From the opening, in which a sex-starved schoolboy faints off-camera at the sight of a nurse removing her bra, to the closing sequence, in which Gregory and his new girlfriend dance in the park while lying down, the film is filled with quirkiness and, well, charm. Gregory's Girl put Scottish director Bill Forsyth on the map. He went on to make bigger films, but he never found a more engaging blend of offbeat comedy, warmth and insight into the peculiarities of the teenage mind."

"That strange, sometimes painful and frequently ludicrous process called growing up has rarely been more perfectly delineated than in Forsyth’s sparkling comedy, still a barrel of laughs thirty years on. It takes a simple premise, uses a young and untried cast, and never strives for “social significance”, cheap laughs or manufactured drama – yet the end result is a gem that scooped a hatful of awards, regularly makes the “Best of British” film lists and has such a status in the nation’s cultural psyche that a clip was used in the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony."

"“Bill Forsyth's superbly judged mixture of romantic yearnings and the offside trap is so well observed and poignantly rendered it could play just as well in Mombassa as Motherwell.”"

"“Much of the pic's peculiar fascination comes from tangential scenes, limning each character's odd obsession, be it food, girls, soccer, or just watching the traffic drive by.” "

"“Gregory's Girl has all of the gentle charm and quirky, unsentimental emotion (not to mention a befuddled person dressed as a penguin) that most Hollywood teen films lacked in the ensuing two decades.”"