Producer David Puttnam (Chariots of Fire, Local Hero) has done it again! He has put together a movie populated with individuals as idiosyncratic and dotty as the people in your neighborhood. Annie, portrayed by Elizabeth Edmonds, is a 17-year-old who gets a summer job as a waitress at a resort hotel on the Welsh coast before starting college. Shy, unfeminine and inexperienced, she is given a quick course in adulthood and hard work.
Screenplay writer June Roberts has created a cast of colorful characters for Annie to interact with: Mavis, her roommate who still cannot get over being jilted on her wedding day; Mike, a Scottish chef who treats the new arrival with tender-loving care; Paula, a sassy waitress who has a soft spot in her heart for her violent boyfriend; Arlene, who is pregnant and worried about the future; Doreen, Paula's roommate whose boyfriend is very shy; Ivan, a gay waiter who sleepwalks in the raw; and Helen, the owner's mistress, who knows men inside and out. Director Peter Duffel orchestrates Annie's initiation into adulthood with just the right blend of comedy and pathos. This totally satisfying film is one of the year's refreshing surprises.