This is one of the movies I would take to an isolated island.
Crazy, nostalgic in a funny way, and WHAT CHARECTERS!!! Use ONLY the Scottish language when you watch, have subtitles instead.
This is the kind of movie you can look at once a year :-)
Mats Wester/ Uppsala Record & DVD Exchange/ Sweden
June 3, 2008What a good film. Wholesome and fresh after all these years. When will someone put Bill Forsyth's "Comfort and Joy" out on DVD for the US market?
February 22, 2008Name the last "coming-of-age" teen comedy you saw that didn't rely on a barrage of cheap jokes or compromising situations with fresh-baked pastries for laughs. I would have to go all the way back to 1981, for writer-director Bill Forsyth's delightful examination of puppy love, Scottish style. Gawky teenager Gregory (John Gordon Sinclair) goes gaga for Dorothy (Dee Hepburn), a fellow soccer player on the school team. Gregory receives love advice from an unlikely mentor, his little sister (Allison Forster). His male classmates offer advice as well, but of course they are just as clueless as he is (although they put on airs of having deep insight on the subject of girls, naturally). In fact, Forsyth gets a lot of mileage out of that most basic truth about adolescence-the girls are usually light years ahead of the boys when it comes to the mysteries of love. Not as precious as you might think, as Forsyth is a master of low-key anarchy and understated irony. Some viewers may have trouble navigating the thick Scottish accents, but it is well worth the extra work. Also starring Clare Grogan, whom 80s music fans may recall as lead singer of Altered Images (their biggest hit was "I Could Be Happy") and Red Dwarf fans will recognize as the original "Kristine Kochanski".
February 15, 2008Bill Forsyth's delightful coming-of-age film rings consistently true, recreating those universal growing pains experienced by boys in their teens. Lovely Scotland setting (admittedly with some thick accents to decipher) and appealing juvenile performances make this a keeper. Forster is adorable as Gregory's wise, precocious sister. A subtle charmer.
July 6, 2007This is a charming and pretty realistic film about young people and young "love". It is refreshingly unsentimental, and shows that young people are just confused about love (even though it's not like adults are experts, either). It's a nice contrast to the silly, flagrantly unrealistic depictions of young "love" you get in American films and sitcoms. The film is also drop dead hilarious at times, and incredibly charming. This DVD has the original Scottish soundtrack, which is really nice. When I first saw the film, I saw it on VHS which was dubbed by more "understandable" English voices. I didn't even know it had been dubbed. But when I watched this with the Scottish soundtrack, I still understood it. They're still speaking English, you know! I was rather annoyed that they dubbed the film, but at least the DVD has both soundtracks. Choose the Scottish one. It's fine. A lovely piece of cinema, this is...
February 3, 2007More reviews at Amazon.com ...
Daily Birthdays
![Comfort and Joy [Region 2]](http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0002W19VA.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg)
(42 reviews)
