Fast Romance

Fast Romance is a lovely wee film from Scotland really enjoyed for once seeing a Scottish film that is void of jakies, junkies, murders and zombies!

The film is all centred on a speed dating night where all the characters encountered someone who changed their life in 3 minutes, and the various and humorous consequences that spin off from them. It has the universal theme of love but it is a Scottish film, making it more identifiable and relatable to me as I can imagine people I know who would act the same as the characters and display the same humour that they do.

Its funny and light hearted, one of the things I found most remarkable about this film was it was made on a total micro budget- I have walked out of films with 100X their budget, and very few films have made me laugh as much as Fast Romance.

Looking forward to more home grown Scottish films :)

Quite frankly, I loved it. It was a breath of fresh air to get away from the gritty moroseness of recent Glasgow-depicted cinema. The South-side locations were a welcome change from dreich north & east-end poverty shots & repetitive west-end imagery. Fast Romance is a wonderful homage to Bill Forsyth & the attention to detail was brilliant. It was laugh-out-loud funny with all the characters getting a share of the excellent & witty dialog. The female cast sparkled & the character of Kenny was beautifully underplayed & poignant by Derek Munn. It was well worth the second visit as I caught more "Forsythisms". A must for those such as myself who loved his films& the Scottish comedies that came out in the 80s. If this can be pulled off in such a teeny-tiny budget - I'd love to see what they can do with a few quid more. I'll put my order in now for the DVD release.

I see a few folk have given this film poor reviews which is a bit unfair. Pound for pound there are very few films out there as engaging as this one. The characters are real, the storyline is clever, and the finished article is as deserving of two hours of your time as many higher profile films with far far bigger budgets.

This is actually a little gem, and once the introductory quirky camera work is out of the way the film settles down into a thoroughly enjoyable movie that will join many other films in the back catalogue of landmark films in the Scottish low budget genre, somewhere between Gregory's Girl and Restless Natives.

Saw this at a press screening today at EIFF. While I wanted to like it, and expected great (or at least 'good') things, I was disappointed.

The press kit informs that the film cost only £41,000 to make, and boy does it show. Camera work is amateur, the feeble 'jazz-lite' soundtrack jars in and out of the consciousness (the same guy who wrote the s/t to 'Gregory's Girl' was on board, and appears to have re-recorded his work for consumption here) while a couple of the other incidental tracks were bad, bad, bad.

Plot so thin it verges on the anorexic and that takes us to... the performances. Some good. Some very good, in fact. Some not so good and some others, naming no names, bloody awful.

The constant nods to Scottish films of far more illustrious stock (the aforementioned Gregory's Girl, Trainspotting, Local Hero, Restless Natives, etc.) are extraneous and annoying; it's as if this film wants a little bit of the stardust to rub off here. Not going to happen.

Like I say, I wanted to like this. Despite being English I have spent the majority of my life north of the Border and know what Scottish cinema is capable of. It's capable of much better than this.

My husband and I attended last nights screening of Fast Romance (World premiere!!!) at the Edinburgh International Film Festival not quite sure what we were going to see. We go to the festival every year but were really pleased at last to see a film that had no airs and graces, but that was plain and simply a piece of entertainment and a right good laugh.

We saw the director outside being interviewed and heard how it was made and how positive he was about his cast and crew and how excited he was about making a film like this.

How right he was. We've watched the dreaded "low budget" Scottish movies before at the EIFF and watched some right miserable rubbish but Fast Romance is the exact opposite. Where did this film come from? It's absolutely charming, hits the right tone and although on occasion caught in the headlights of financial restraints is a refreshing and long overdue change for Scottish film.

The film shows the lives of about 7 "twenty and thirty somethings" who are simply looking for love. The situations are instantly recognisable to anyone watching but full of surprising and welcome twists. Glasgow is a great backdrop and the music is totally fantastic it has to be said! Soundtrack release perhaps?? Methinks it has to! Great performances from actors like Derek Munn (who was in River City) William Ruann (sweet sixteen)and new actress Jo Freer drive the film along well but WOW you should see the supporting actors!!!. Its a who's who of Scottish film and a pleasure to see them all together in one place. Dave Anderson Alison Peebles Greg Hemphill Robert Buchanan (That sinking feeling!) with the brilliant Barbara Rafferty and a load more.

Someone out there has seen sense as this film is going into cinemas across Scotland from July and thats a good thing for all. Get out and watch this film! If you are a fan of Gregory's Girl Restless natives (vincent friell is in it too lol) or even of River City or maybe if you just want a laugh then go and see Fast Romance. Feel good movie of the year! Its amazing that something shot for so little looks and feels this good. What on earth can this director do with a real budget? Please make more!