Scenes of a Sexual Nature

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Disappointingly patchy

The title of this film is somewhat misleading. Perhaps it would be more accurately called 'Slightly Disjointed Scenes of a Conversational Nature that Deal with Sex, Love, Kids and Death' but, then again, that's not exactly the kind of title that rolls off the tongue.

Set during a long, hot summer's day in London's Hampstead Heath, 'Scenes...' dips in and out of a series of vignettes from people's lives. There's a chance meeting between an elderly couple who discover a past connection; the wife who catches her husband looking at another girl's underwear; a gay couple discussing whether they should have children; and a pair of fortysomethings feeling their way through a terribly awkward blind date. One chancer attempts to get a vulnerable young woman into bed and a newly divorced couple try to understand what happened to their relationship.

'Scenes...' is full of stars of British film and TV screens, from Ewan McGregor's lusty gay man to Hugh Bonneville's ('Iris') prickly blind dater and a low key Catherine Tate as a wistful mum. It's a less glossy and more English 'Love Actually' but, although these characters do occasionally cross paths, there's no link between their stories, albeit the fact that they all take place in a lovingly depicted Hampstead Heath.

Although some of the stories are engaging - particularly Catherine Tate and Adrian Lester's turn as loving divorcees - the film is far less than the sum of its parts and feels much longer than 91 minutes. Disappointingly patchy.

Caroline Hennessy