A revealing and credible portrait of adolescence is presented in the Scottish film Gregory's Girl. The protagonist is a giraffe-like teenager who loses his position on the soccer team to Dorothy (Dee Hepburn), a stunning and gifted athlete. Everyone in the school is atwitter about this blond; some enterprising students are even selling her pictures.
John Gordon Sinclair's performance as Gregory is very funny; it ought to resonate with all moviegoers who can recall the awkwardness and embarrassments of young love. This thoroughly likeable fellow gets some good advice on dating from his serious ten-year-old sister (Alison Forster) and finally musters the courage to ask Dorothy out. She accepts and Gregory nearly faints. But after consulting with her girlfriends, she decides to ditch him. That evening Gregory is passed from one lass to the next until he winds up with Susan (Clare Grogan) who takes a real liking to him.
Youthful infatuation with the opposite sex is beautifully handled by writer and director Bill Forsyth. He captures all the confusion, the yearning, the terrors, and the adolescent tics associated with boys and girls trying to cope with their ambivalent desires.