Born Romantic (2000)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

David Kane

Writer:

David Kane (written by)

Release Date:

9 March 2001 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Romance isn't dead... it's just not very well.

Plot:

Three young men pursue three beautiful women across London.

Plot Keywords:

Salsa | Widower | Divorce | Ex Husband | Thief

Cast

Craig Ferguson	...	Frankie
Ian Hart	...	Second Cab Driver
Jane Horrocks	...	Mo
Adrian Lester	...	Jimmy
Catherine McCormack	...	Jocelyn
Jimi Mistry	...	Eddie
David Morrissey	...	Fergus
Olivia Williams	...	Eleanor
Kenneth Cranham	...	Barney
John Thomson	...	First Cab Driver
Paddy Considine	...	Ray
Hermione Norris	...	Carolanne
Sally Phillips	...	Suzy
Jessica Hynes	...	Libby (as Jessica Stevenson)
Martin Savage	...	Wayne

MPAA:

Rated R for language and sexuality.

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | France:U | Germany:12 | Spain:13 | UK:15 | USA:R | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

British Museum, Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London, England, UK

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Quotes:

Jimmy: Are you alright?
Jocelyn: My boyfriend just tried to mug me!
Jimmy: You can't trust anyone these days.

Movie Connections:

References Ocean's Eleven (1960)

Soundtrack:

Indestructible

Another Brit rom com which smacks of This Year's Love

From the director of This Year's Love comes another Brit rom com, combining the talents of many of our up and coming English film stars with familiar faces from the small screen.

The film follows a group of people, and how their lives are affected through chance meetings and overlappings of social circles as they come to dance in the same salsa club and go to the same taxi rank to get home. Fergus (David Morrissey) follows his former love (Horrocks) all the way to London to attempt a reconciliation after jilting her years ago, whereas Eddie (Mistry) stumbles into the salsa club one night, and into the life of introvert Jocelyn (McCormack), reluctant to have him intrude, with a similar scenario for Frankie and Eleanor (Ferguson and Williams).

With the disgusted reports of last years figures of box office takings from Brit flicks - among the many disgraced include Janice Beard 45 wpm (starring Rhys Ifans and Pasty Kensit) and House (starring Kelly MacDonald and This Life's Jason Hughes) - only Billy Elliot and Snatch actually made a profit. The British film industry was getting increasingly stronger with international success from hits like 4 Weddings and A Funeral and The Full Monty a few years ago, so why is it we only seem to produce the occasional gem?

Probably because in the case of Born Romantic, yes, you get the occasional laugh; yes, it isn't bad in itself; especially with the calibre of actors in it, but compared to other British films, it certainly isn't doing much special or, at the very least, original. Which is a shame, considering the potential the film shows, particularly within the characterisation. Still worth seeing, but bear in mind that the influence from This Year's Love clearly shines through.