This Year's Love

This Year's Love was released at a time in the fit of madness that followed Four Weddings And A Funeral, when everyone was desperate to rush out their very British romantic comedies. This Year's Love sadly got lumped it with all of these (generally poor) movies, which is a pity because it's one of the finest British films of the nineties.

It's not cute, although it does have charm. It's not a comedy, although there are some very funny bits in it. It's not particularly romantic, although it's probably a lot more honest about love than anything Richard Curtis has ever written. What it is is an example of the kind of movie Britain can do like almost nobody else: a small, dense, focused study of well-written characters being slowly destroyed by their own flaws, unfolding gradually like a really great novel. It's dense and meaty and thoughtful and sad, and essential viewing for anyone who's left cold by the more treacle vision of the Four Weddings... school of movie-making.

It does have a frantic dash to the airport at the end, I must admit. Although even that defies normal expectations.