Film Reviews & Movie Analysis

When I saw that this movie was available on Netflix and commented that I had never seen in; shit hit the fan. By the manner my friend yelled “YOU’VE NEVER SEEN ANGUS THONGS” at me, it was easy enough to guess I had missed a generational rite of passage.

Ah well, better late than never.

Fourteen-year-old Georgia Nicolson’s (Georgia Groome) only focus is having her fifteenth birthday in a club, and finally nabbing a sex-god boyfriend to snog.

Her parents completely shut down the idea of an extravagant party, but things look up for Georgia when new boy Robbie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) moves to Eastbourne. With the help of her three best friends, Georgia puts into practice everything she’s ever learned from a Teen Magazine to get the guy.

Of course, being awkward, lacking confidence and having no idea what she’s actually doing, nothing goes as planned. With talks of her family moving away, Georgia’s arch nemesis Lindsay (Kimberly Nixon) sinking her claws into Robbie and accidentally shaving off half of an eyebrow – Georgia has to suffer through the pains of growing up the hard way.

So. Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging….

I was a couple of years older than the characters in this movie when it came out in 2008, and though I had never been the self-absorbed, boy crazy teen type (well no more than the usual level) I can see the pull it had for my age mates.

Eleven years on with my adult eyes experiencing it for the first time… There are so many things wrong with this movie. Georgia’s boy obsessed personality really worries me, the fact that there was a guy who everyone happily went to in order to practice kissing (so unhygienic!), that nobody really learned from their mistakes and how creepy Robbie/Aaron Taylor-Johnsons’s voice is.

Though I spent the first forty-five minutes cringing and shaking my head, I suddenly realised I was pretty damn invested. It was fun watching the friendship of British teenage girls, Eastbourne created a fantastic backdrop and yes – I wanted to know if vain little Georgia would get her happily ever after. So sue me.

A few notable British actors/actresses graduated from Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging. Aaron Taylor-Johnson; Kick-Ass, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Eleanor Tomlinson, who can be found playing Demelza on the BBC Series Poldark and Kimberley Nixon featured on Channel 4’s Fresh Meat and BBC One’s New Blood.

Ultimately Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging is a cheesy cringe-worth British teen movie, one that I am happy to have finally watched – however, have zero regrets I left it this long. Something I can see myself watching again for the heck of it, there is an air of nostalgia that can’t be overlooked which I suppose is what makes the movie so iconic in British culture.