Gregory's Girl is a 1980 Scottish coming-of-age romantic comedy film[5] written and directed by Bill Forsyth and starring John Gordon Sinclair, Dee Hepburn and Clare Grogan.

Madeleine, who had been watching from the window, quizzes him on his date and calls him a liar when he claims he did not kiss Susan.

[7] Many of the young actors were members of the Glasgow Youth Theatre, and had appeared in Forsyth's earlier film That Sinking Feeling (1979), including Robert Buchanan, Billy Greenlees, and John Gordon Sinclair.

[9] As the film had a small budget, the actors supplied many of their own clothes; Hepburn's white shorts were borrowed from her sister.

"[17] On Sneak Previews Ebert and Gene Siskel gave it two "yes" votes, with both critics praising the film's honest depiction of the awkwardness of adolescence.

[18] The staff at Variety liked the work of the young cast and Forsyth's direction, and wrote, "Filmmaker Bill Forsyth, whose friendly, unmalicious approach recalls that of René Clair, is concerned with young students (in particular, a soccer team goalie, Gregory) seeking out the opposite sex.

Hepburn is properly enigmatic as the object of his desire, with ensemble approach giving Greg's precocious 10-year-old sister played by Allison Forster a key femme role.

"[19] Critic Richard Skorman wrote, "Forsyth does a good job of making light of the tender part in [Gregory's] teenage psyche, and his friends and little sister in particular are quirky and lovable.

Unlike the film's American counterparts, Gregory's Girl is refreshingly free of mean-spirited characters and horny young studs bemoaning their virginity.

[21] In a retrospective appraisal of the film forty years after its release, Dr Jonny Murray, Senior Lecturer in Film and Visual Culture at Edinburgh College of Art, was quoted in The Scotsman as saying: "Gregory’s Girl is one of cinema’s true portrayals of the state of adolescence – a totally universal theme which only a few other filmmakers have been able to capture so brilliantly.

"[22] However, Time Out London's reviewer said "There's still comic mileage in Gordon-Sinclair's amiable fumbling Gregory... [A]ttention is directed towards wider, broadly political issues, but Forsyth's assured craftsmanship ensures that they are deftly woven into the storytelling.

Gordon-Sinclair is a revelation, and although the film suffers from a lack of pace, its wealth of human insight and the premium it places on subtlety of expression make it a rare pleasure.