Gregory's Girl is a Scottish teen Romantic Comedy written and directed by Bill Forsyth and released in 1980.
The movie begins with Coach Menzies (Jake D Arcy) looking to replace some of the players on the school's football [soccer] team, including Gregory (John Gordon Sinclair), the goalie. Despite it being a boys-only team, Dorothy (Dee Hepburn) tries out for the team and proves to be far more talented than the other prospective players. Gregory becomes infatuated with her, leading to a series of misadventures as he builds up the nerve to ask her out on a date. Over the course of the movie, he seeks help from his friends and his little sister in an attempt to win Dorothy's heart.
Gregory's Girl was ranked 30th in the British Film Institute's list of the top 100 British films and 29th on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 50 best high school movies. A clip from the movie was played during the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics.
This film provides examples of:
- All Guys Want Cheerleaders: As the first female football player, Dorothy immediately becomes the most popular girl in school, gaining attention from the boys in the school, much to Gregory's frustration.
- All Men Are Perverts: Played with. While the teenaged boys are obsessed with girls and trying to date them, they're mostly portrayed as clueless but harmless.
- Early on, the teen boys are gathered outside a nurse's window to watch her change clothes. Later on, a couple of prepubescent boys show up to the same view and calmly question "All that fuss over a bit of tit?"
- Brick Joke: The movie begins with some of the boys spying on the night nurse as she changes clothes. Later on, the photo sales booth has a sign that says "Next Week: Naughty Night Nurse."
- Coming of Age Story
- Covers Always Lie: The DVD cover shows Gregory in a white jacket and Dorothy in a blue blouse. They never meet when he's wearing the jacket, which he borrowed specifically for their date.
- Foreshadowing: Dorothy is shown in the cafeteria and the girls' bathroom talking to Susan, with the audience only able to hear parts of their conversation. It turns out they're working on a plan to set Gregory up with Susan.
- Kid Has a Point: Gregory's little sister, Madeline, turns out to be much more knowledgeable about dating than he is.
- Little Known Facts: Used by most of the characters, and Andy's favorite technique for hitting on girls."Twenty thousand tonnes of cornflakes pass under this bridge every day. It's a well-known fact."
- Not a Date: Carol shows up at the clock to tell Gregory that Dorothy has been delayed, and he offers to buy her some chips. It seems innocent until she changes from her school clothes to a sexy outfit, which leads passers-by into thinking they're on a date. This happens again when she passes him onto Margo, and a third time when Margo passes Gregory off to Susan. The final time, it becomes a date.
- Recurring Extra: The character in the penguin costume. No explanation is ever given.
- Same Language Dub: The American theatrical release used a dub with softer accents. Both versions are available on the North American DVD release.
- Smells Sexy: Gregory uses this to describe Dorothy to Andy, much to his confusion.
- Supreme Chef: Steve takes his cooking very seriously, which even the head master enjoys.
- The Casanova: The boys idolize Billy the window washer because he's had sex several times, and implies that his job gives him ample opportunities.
- Andy and Charlie thinks Gregory has become one after seeing him with several girls during one night.
"There's definitely something in the air tonight, Charlie. That's three women in a row he's had." - Those Two Guys: Andy and Charlie spend the whole movie awkwardly trying to pick up girls.
