Born Romantic

This is a very enjoyable British budget film from David Kane. It probably would not win any awards but it really is a lot of fun. It contains a bunch of misfits all looking for love - they all have the local salsa club in common and the film takes place in and around this point. It has a great cast - none of them famous but all of them very well cast and you do care what happens to the characters (always a good sign)and the film is very funny. It also has a great soundtrack. If you like Latin American music and you enjoy a gentle comedy you this is a film for you! I would not hesitate to recommend this film and anything else from David Kane. If I had to give marks out of ten, it would score at least eight!

"Born Romantic" uses the revolving door approach to studying the relationships of a half dozen quirky characters and their romantic relationships which are in various states of disarray. Full of wry British humor, lots of salsa dancing, and with a cab driver playing a sort of "Dan Cupid" type, "Born Romantic" is considerably more clever than its recent American counterpart "Sidewalks of New York", although they are at different ends of the romantic comedy genre. A fun and funny watch for those who enjoy British films.

I must confess that I had never heard of this until it appeared in this week's TV schedules.

Yet it is a wonderfully cast, plotted, written and acted film. But above all it is both funny and true-to-life. One of the best I've seen in a long time and makes me wish I'd seen it at the cinema.

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.

This film is about 3 men trying very hard to get to the hearts of three women. These six people are connected through the same taxi they take in different times.

In the beginning, the film is confusing because of the three parallel stories to introduce the three couples. It took me a while to understand who is who! After all the scene setting, the film becomes a lot more interesting and human. The character development is good, and all six leading characters get their own unique profile. Catherine McCormack's anxious and hypochondriacal character is the most memorable. The film ends with the message that everyone wants love, we just don't know how to get it.