Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGurinder Chadha
Screenplay by
Based onAngus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging and It's OK, I'm Wearing Really Big Knickers
by Louise Rennison
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyRichard Pope
Edited by
Music byJoby Talbot
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 25 July 2008 (2008-07-25) (United Kingdom)
  • 28 August 2008 (2008-08-28) (Germany)
  • 19 January 2010 (2010-01-19) (United States)
Running time
101 minutes
Countries
  • United Kingdom[1]
  • United States[1]
  • Germany[1]
LanguageEnglish
Box office$14.9 million[2]

Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (also known as Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging) is a 2008 teen romantic comedy film co-written and directed by Gurinder Chadha, based on the young adult novels Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging (1999) and It's OK, I'm Wearing Really Big Knickers (2000) by Louise Rennison. The film stars Georgia Groome, Alan Davies, Karen Taylor, Aaron Johnson and Eleanor Tomlinson. The plot follows 14-year-old Georgia Nicholson (Groome) as she tries to find a boyfriend while also organising her 15th birthday party.

Plot

Fourteen-year-old Georgia Nicolson lives in Eastbourne with her parents Connie and Bob and younger sister Libby. She is insecure about her appearance and fears she will never have a boyfriend. On the first day of the new school term, Georgia and her friends Jas, Ellen and Rosie spot fraternal twin brothers Robbie and Tom Jennings, who have recently moved to Eastbourne from London.

Georgia and Jas decide to approach the brothers in their mother's organic foodshop, where they work. Jas is quickly enamored with Tom and Georgia strikes up a conversation with Robbie. However, they soon discover that Robbie is dating Lindsay, the most popular girl in school. After learning that Robbie likes cats, Georgia pretends that her cat Angus has gone missing and asks Robbie for help finding him. Jas has Angus on a leash in the park, but he escapes and Tom rescues him just as Georgia and Robbie arrive. Robbie leaves to spend time with Lindsay and Tom asks Jas on a date, after which they become a couple.

Bob moves to New Zealand after receiving a promotion, while the rest of the family stays in England. During his absence, Connie hires a handsome interior decorator, Jem, to redo the living room, and begins to spend increasingly longer periods of time with him, prompting Georgia to worry about the state of her parents' marriage.

Determined to impress Robbie, Georgia takes "snogging lessons" from a classmate, Peter, who becomes infatuated with her. When Peter tries to kiss Georgia at a party, he embarrasses her in front of Robbie (who later assumes that Georgia and Peter are a couple), Lindsay, Jas and Tom. In order to evade Peter, Georgia lies to him about being a lesbian. When Tom invites Jas to go swimming with him and Robbie, Georgia tags along. While in the pool, Robbie and Georgia kiss. Before leaving, Robbie promises to call Georgia later.

After not hearing from Robbie in a while, Georgia is heartbroken. She decides to make Robbie jealous, hoping he will realise his feelings for her. She invites Robbie's best friend, Dave, to a concert by Robbie's band, the Stiff Dylans. Seeing Georgia and Dave dancing and laughing, Robbie tries to talk to her but is stopped by Lindsay.

At school, Dave confronts Georgia about using him to make Robbie jealous. Upon learning what Georgia did to Dave, Robbie severs ties with her. Georgia discovers it was Jas who accidentally leaked this information. After Georgia kicks Jas in the shin during an argument, they vow never to speak to each other again. Shortly afterwards, Robbie tells Georgia he was considering breaking up with Lindsay before becoming involved with her, but now he is disappointed with her recent behaviour.

Devastated, Georgia decides that she would like to move to New Zealand. She stops by her father's workplace and tearfully vents to the receptionist, telling her that she does not want her family to be apart from each other. She later goes to the beach, knowing Robbie would be there, and apologises to him. Robbie reveals he ended things with Lindsay and admits he still likes Georgia.

On Georgia's 15th birthday, Connie takes her to a nightclub for the first time. The place initially seems empty, but Georgia's friends and family soon arrive to reveal a surprise birthday party, which Jas secretly organised with Connie. Georgia and Jas make amends. Bob returns from New Zealand, having accepted a new job opportunity in Eastbourne. It is revealed that Jem is gay and his boyfriend owns the club. While the Stiff Dylans are performing the song "Ultraviolet", which Robbie wrote about Georgia, Lindsay arrives from her own birthday party (which no one attended) and demands that Robbie choose between her and Georgia. He chooses Georgia, kissing her onstage. Jas pulls out Lindsay's breast pads and tosses them into the crowd, prompting Lindsay to storm off.

Ultimately, Georgia realises she does not need to change her appearance, as Robbie likes her the way she is.

Cast

  • Georgia Groome as Georgia Nicolson, a 14-year-old girl who pursues Robbie romantically
  • Aaron Johnson as Robbie Jennings, Georgia's love interest. He is in a band called the Stiff Dylans, and is initially Lindsay's boyfriend.
  • Karen Taylor as Connie Nicolson, Georgia's mother
  • Alan Davies as Bob Nicolson, Georgia's father
  • Eleanor Tomlinson as Jas, Georgia's best friend who wants a boyfriend just as much as Georgia does. She begins a relationship with Tom, Robbie's fraternal twin brother.
  • Georgia Henshaw as Rosie, a member of the "Ace Gang" alongside Georgia, Jas and Ellen. She is the experienced one of the group as she already has a boyfriend named Sven.
  • Manjeeven Grewal as Ellen, another member of the "Ace Gang". She is the vulnerable one of the group. In the end, she is introduced properly to Dave by Georgia.
  • Kimberley Nixon as Lindsay Marlings, Robbie's initial girlfriend and Georgia's nemesis
  • Sean Bourke as Tom Jennings, Robbie's twin brother and later Jas' boyfriend
  • Tommy Bastow as Dave "the Laugh", one of Robbie's best friends, whom Georgia uses Dave to make Robbie jealous. He and Ellen later dance and kiss.
  • Liam Hess as Peter Dyer, a charismatic boy in Georgia's class who notoriously gives girls lessons on how to kiss. He develops unrequited feelings for Georgia.
  • Eva Drew as Liberty "Libby" Nicolson, Georgia's eccentric five-year-old sister. She likes to dress up her cat Angus.
  • Steve Jones as Jem, an interior decorator hired by Connie to remodel her house
  • Imogen Bain as the headmistress
  • Ingrid Oliver as Miss Stamp
  • Matt Brinkler as Sven, Rosie's crazy boyfriend and an exchange student from Sweden
  • Heather Wright as the receptionist
  • Lizzie Roper as Becky
  • Ray Shirley as the woman with the poodle
  • Stiff Dylans as themselves
  • Benny and Jimmy as Angus, Georgia's cat

Production

Chadha was originally brought into the project as a scriptwriter:[3]

When the project came to me, the studio, Paramount, had had it for five years and even though they're British books they had these two American guys adapt the book and they couldn't get it to work. I read the script and thought how weird, this is a sort of LA male's version of an English girl's childhood and then I read the books and I thought wow, there is something here that relates to me growing up that I hadn't seen in the script. I thought this could be a British genre film or be like Clueless or Mean Girls in England and I liked the idea of doing a British version of those films. Then it clicked that it should be like Sixteen Candles.

Most of the scenes were filmed on location in Brighton and Eastbourne.[4] Others, such as the gig scene and some interiors and exteriors for Georgia's house, were filmed in and around Ealing Studios, London. Areas in nearby west London like Bishopshalt school in Hillingdon and the Liquid nightclub in Uxbridge were used as well.[5] Other sites include locations in Teddington and Twickenham. Costumes included green blazers and kilts borrowed from St. Bede's Prep School in Eastbourne, and props included Eastbourne's signature blue bins to add to the effect and continuity when filming in multiple locations.

Release

Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging was the first film produced by Nickelodeon Movies to receive a restrictive PG-13 rating.[6] The film was not released theatrically in the United States, and instead had its US premiere on Nick at Nite and TeenNick, and was later released on DVD on 19 January 2010.[7]

Reception

Box office

Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging grossed $10.6 million (£6.6 million) in the United Kingdom and a worldwide total of $14.9 million.[2] It became the 42nd highest-grossing film of 2008 in the UK.[8]

Critical response

The film received positive reviews. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 73% based on reviews from 26 critics, with an average score of 5.9/10. The site's critics consensus states: "Based on two of British writer Louise Rennison's popular books, Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging is a pleasant and funny tween comedy, comfortable for UK audiences as well as stateside crowds."[9]

Critics noted the strong central performance of Georgia Groome, who was praised for her "super-engaging" performance.[10]

Music

Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging: Music from the Motion Picture
Soundtrack album by
Various artists
Released21 July 2008
GenrePop rock
LabelColumbia

No.TitleArtistLength
1."She's So Lovely"Scouting for Girls3:42
2."Girls and Boys in Love"The Rumble Strips2:31
3."The Show"Lenka3:54
4."Naïve"Lily Allen3:44
5."She's Got You High"Mumm-Ra3:24
6."Who Needs Love"Razorlight3:31
7."Your Song"Kate Walsh4:07
8."Mad About the Boy"Ava Leigh3:22
9."Young Folks"Peter Bjorn and John4:37
10."Toothpaste Kisses"The Maccabees2:37
11."Sugar Mouse"Oh, Atoms4:36
12."Ever Fallen in Love"Stiff Dylans2:59
13."I Found Out"The Pigeon Detectives2:03
14."In the Morning"The Coral2:32
15."Pull Shapes"The Pipettes2:58
16."Great DJ"The Ting Tings3:22
17."Ultraviolet"Stiff Dylans3:46

Some songs played in the film were not included on the soundtrack:

  1. "Out of Time" - Stiff Dylans
  2. "You're the Best Thing" – The Style Council
  3. "Agadoo" – Black Lace
  4. "True" – Spandau Ballet
  5. "I'm Your Man" – Shane Richie
  6. "Mr. Loverman" – Shabba Ranks
  7. "Dance wiv Me" – Dizzee Rascal featuring Calvin Harris and Chrome
  8. "Teenage Kicks" – Nouvelle Vague
  9. "Big Fish, Little Fish" – Nik Martin

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (2008)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 21 October 2020. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  2. 1 2 "Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (2008)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 1 March 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  3. ↑ "Teenage kicks: 'Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging'". The Independent. London. 24 July 2008. Archived from the original on 5 December 2008. Retrieved 7 December 2008.
  4. ↑ Field, Annemarie (5 October 2007). "Perfect town for major teen film". Eastbourne Herald. Archived from the original on 16 February 2008. Retrieved 4 February 2008.
  5. ↑ "Production Notes". angusthongsmovie.com. Archived from the original on 2 January 2011.
  6. ↑ "Nickelodeon Set To Release Its First American PG-13 Feature". Inquisitr. 24 October 2012. Archived from the original on 20 February 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  7. ↑ Cornelius, David (11 January 2010). "Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging". DVD Talk. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  8. ↑ "British Box Office For 2008". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  9. ↑ "Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 14 November 2021. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
  10. ↑ McCahill, Mike (25 July 2008). "Film Reviews: Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 13 July 2009. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
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