Born Romantic review

Born Romantic would barely pass muster as a late night TV series on an obscure digital channel about young urban types searching for love, and is a pretty woeful attempt at big screen entertainment. Written and directed by David Kane (also responsible for last year's much more engaging This Year's Love), this predictable dirge offers nothing new and strains to deliver any laughs, despite desperately wanting to fall into the 'romantic comedy' category. Anyone who takes their partner to this film expecting either romance or comedy is going to be sorely disappointed.

In a strikingly unoriginal set-up, the story revolves around three couples who are all in some ways associated with a salsa dance club. It's as if the director thought it would be clever to base his film around these clubs, seeing them as hangouts for the lonely hearts brigade and thus rich and interesting cinematic characters. Unfortunately it's not clever, merely very trying. Another similarly unimpressive premise is the use of one cab driver to ferry all of the characters around town: he's meant to be a wise Buddha figure, but it's all too clearly a fairly lame device to listen to the characters' dilemmas. Whatever happened to proper character development?

Couple one are meant to be starcrossed lovers who have missed the boat: Mo (Jane Horrocks) has failed to find happiness in the ten years since leaving college and the best she can get is a series of unsuccessful one night stands. There are only two important things in her life, salsa and The British Museum (this may be meant to be funny). That is until Fergus (David Morrissey), her real love from college decides he wants back in her life and comes shimmying down to the dance club. Couple two are meant to show that opposites can attract as the tough Eleanor (Olivia Williams), refuses the advances of the divorced Dean Martin lover Frankie (Craig Ferguson). And finally couple three are meant to be the quirky shy ones: Jocelyn (Catherine McCormack) wears a permanent neck brace as she can't bear the view of her neck (!) and Eddie (Jimi Mistry) is London's most unsuccessful thief.

The whole thing reeks of trying to be too clever for its own good. It's meant to be charming and smart but the jokes and plot work as well as a dancer with two left feet. Despite the best efforts of a talented cast, none of the characters are particularly likeable and there's nothing solid to latch onto throughout. It's another highly flawed Britflick which underlines the serious lack of originality running through the UK film industry: when are we going to stop seeing contemporary British films about dodgy crims on the lam or twentysomethings seeking love in London?