School for Seduction (2004)

I don't remember laughing so much at any film! There are just so many good scenes, with great acting, moments of silence, surprised looks and just funny, funny.Most of that comes from the great writing, but all the actors have to do their stuff too, and they do, even the males who mostly are made out to be total idiots, and up themselves.It starts out in Italy where a bunch of girls are being taught, one of them is Sophia, (Kelly Brook) who promptly walks out on her stupid husband and heads back to Newcastle, England, where she was brought up and went to school.She sets up similar school, to teach woman to be themselves, and gets some really interesting clients, mostly women whose partners don't seem to appreciate them. It helps the film that all the women are stunningly beautiful, and the guys are also quite good looking.Emily Woof, Dervla Kirwan are great, and Tim Healy as a middle-aged guy and his wife give a different, and funny, slant on proceedings. Ben Porter is Toni, a drag queen. This guy has real talent, his song and dance scene is so good I'd love to see more!Nearly a ten rating, but the last few minutes get a bit too serious.

In 'School for Seduction' I was hoping for a northern British comedy in the mould of 'Billy Elliot' or 'The Full Monty' ... or a lesser known gem such as 'The Bare Necessities' (1996). To be fair, the film does have some well-observed moments which could make good sketches in a female-viewpoint TV comedy show such as 'Smack the Pony'. However, as a full-length feature this movie is awful. The men are one-dimensional stereotypes straight from central casting whilst the women fare little better. The real-life Tyneside women I know are, without exception, stronger, wittier and a damn sight sexier than any of the cut-outs portrayed here. The cast do their best to inject some life into the lines they're given but as each character plods her way through an entirely predictable plot line it is difficult to sustain interest. Add a plot twist which is, in the true sense of the word, incredible and the production sinks without trace. For sisterhood solidarity movies give me 'Real Women Have Curves' or 'Beauty Shop'; for Northern British comedy give me 'Brassed off' or 'Blow Dry'. 'School for Seduction' - it just sucks.

The long and sometimes unfairly maligned tradition of British comedy films is still alive and kicking - thanks be! I saw this film as an in-flight movie between Heathrow and JFK. There were about 8 other films that passengers could chose from including the latest Hollywood blockbusters. Given the loud laughs and cheers that broke out all round the jumbo jet just at the points where I was doing likewise there is no doubt in my mind that this film was being enjoyed by many. This is a well observed, well written and carefully crafted film. There are delightful performances from some of the cream of British light comedy actors. Dervla Kirwan, with her smouldering good looks, initially had me worried playing an averagely inhibited wife, but she carried it off and her performance gained from the difference between her appearance and behaviour. British comedies can either be too smugly Home Counties based or too self consciously "up north" but despite being based around Tyneside this film neatly avoids being obsessed by its location . This may not be high art, this may not convey any serious messages but the important task of entertaining and making people laugh, which this film does admirably, should not be underestimated.

I was dragged along to see School For Seduction by my girlfriend who was dying to see the film. I have to say, I'm glad I went!The film was highly entertaining, and not just because I was able to watch Kelly Brook seduce everything from a broomstick to a room full of salivating men (a lot better than watching miss jones wibbling into her diary about hugh grant, I can tell you!). There was more than enough laughs, an engaging plot and some good emotional parts (for the ladies, of course).So, if you want to earn yourself some brownie points with that special lady in your life, take her to see School For Seduction (and you won't have to suffer the usual drawl that your average chick-flick spits out)