• The Flirting Club DVD Review

Hey folks, Valkor here. I'm gonna step away from the old a bit to hit up on something new. I'm taking you across the pond, to take a look at a little Brit-com with a unique spin to it called "The Flirting Club". What's the spin? Well all the actors were chosen over the internet. And I can't rightly say that that's a positive.

The Flirting Clun DVD


The Flirting Club centers on Jamie (Richard Di Gregorio); 29 years old, still living at home, has never gotten laid, and hopelessly in love with his boss, Lydia (Justine Powell). To add insult to injury, his mom and dad have given him notice that they're moving out, heading to a farm in Australia to spend the rest of their days. And since they're moving out, they're home is being sold leaving Jamie with no place to go. But the parents have plans for Jamie - before they go, they offer him the chance at a small place of his own, if he marries the girl next door, Laura (Emily Thorling) or someone else. Actually Laura is like the consolation prize. Basically, if Jamie can't find a girl of his own in 30 days, he'll have to marry Laura. And he thinks she's a pig (she sorta is), and that ain't happenin.

The Flirting Clun DVD


So that's one part of the story, now let's get into the actual club. While out on the town with his mate Bill (Daniel Morrisey), Jamie stumbles across a club for people sorta like him - people who need additional assistance in getting dates called "The Flirting Club". And by joining this club, he hopes to get the nerve to ask out his boss. Instead Jamie finds a girl in the form of Mel (Melanie Denholme). Actually he met her prior to the club and their first meeting didn't go over so smoothly. But now that they're in the club together maybe there will be sparks? It all comes to a close when the Flirting Club is off on their final outing to put their new skills to the test. And Jamie must choose between his new found love with Mel or his obssession Lydia.

The Flirting Clun DVD


I'll save you the trouble, Jamie ends up with Mel, his best friend Bill ends up with Laura, The Flirting Club's final outing was a success where everyone walked away with somebody, and all is right with the world. Trust me I'm doing you a favor. And with that we head on into the TOV Breakdown.

The Flirting Clun DVD


The Good:

To me, The Flirting Club is one part Group Sex (thumbs up) and one part Date For Hire (thumbs down); so you have a mesh of good and bad, with the bad outweighing the good. But let's look at the positives first. I enjoyed the acting, and I thought Richard Di Gregorio's Jamie has his chuckle moments, though he did ham it up a little too much for my taste. The cast involved in the club are also have their moments such as Kelly (Gina Murray), with her high-pitch voice who loves to talk. Then there's Pammy (Mary-Jane Amor), bodacious piece of chocolate who has a funny scene later on in the film (how many bottles does she have up in there?). Finally there's Gunther (Terry Alderton), yea he has a funny moment towards the end as well when he meets and falls for a transvestite. Actually I think the entire cast put on a wonderful performance, with the few that I mentioned as standouts. Other than that, we move on to…

The Flirting Clun DVD


The Bad:

While I did find a some of jokes funny, the rest of the film fell flat. I think a lot of it has to do with the pacing, which was too slow; so much so that I actually nodded off a few times (there's no sleeping during a comedy!). Also I feel we didn't need the whole Jamie/Laura scenario. I think this guy would rather go homeless than to marry her. And if that's the case, why even bother? So that's time that could have been shaved off to tighten the story a bit. Also Jamie's antics were waaaaay over the top; definitely needed to be toned down a bit. Case in point, there's a scene where he enters a building, but his bag gets caught in the door, his neck is snagged by the strap and he's dropped to the floor... just as Lydia walks in. That kinda joke might be funny to a 5 year old, but to me it's simply not funny. Finally we hit on the ending. Not the actual ending where Jamie ends up with Ms. Right, but the final ending with the blow job on the beach. Now was that really necessary? I wasn't offended by it, it just felt so out of place.

The Flirting Clun DVD


The Ugly:

Jamie's co-worker Vince (Simon Cummins) gets a mouthful of spunk that falls from the ceiling. How did it get there? You gotta watch the film if you want to find out.

The Flirting Clun DVD


In the end I find that while The Flirting Club has its shining moments, the rest of the film overall is just "meh". I'd say this is a definite rental and that's only if you like Brit-coms. Otherwise take a pass on this one. So out of TOV 5 stars, I give The Flirting Club a 1.5.

The Flirting Clun DVD