When one thinks of the best school based films this gem is often overlooked in favour of well known American films which is a shame as Gregory's Girl is just as good. It certainly has a very British feel to it, Gregory plays in the school's football team which has lost every match of their season, instead of shouting at the team the coach wearily holds a try out for new players. The only person trying out who is any good is Dorothy... the coach doesn't want a girl on the team but reluctantly lets her join as he really has nothing to lose. As soon as he sees her play Gregory falls in love with her and sets about getting a date with her.<br /><br />John Gordon Sinclair does a great job as awkward teenager Gregory and there is a fine supporting cast including Dee Hepburn as Dorothy, Clare Grogan as Susan, a friend of Dorothy's who likes Gregory and young Allison Forster who, in her only acting role, was delightful as Gregory's sister Madeline. It helps that the main actors aren't in their mid-twenties and the school is clearly populated by children.<br /><br />While the main plot is obviously about Gregory there are also plenty of other interesting characters including two boys who work for the school magazine who make money selling photographs of Dorothy in an unofficial shop they've set up in the boys' toilets, here we also see Gregory's brother selling assorted pastries and various boys having a smoke. Even though there are lots of surreal moments this film seems to be one of the most realistic portrayals of a school; the children all seem like real school children, at least from a British perspective. We don't have the standard group of cliques we would get in a US school drama and nobody really cares that the football team is useless.<br /><br />I'd certainly recommend this film to anybody wanting a good laugh and a fairly accurate depiction of life at a British School.