Duck: This movie was fun as duck! And I’m not just saying that because I’m a duck. Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging engrossed my beak-holes and tickled my ever-curious quacker. What a duck-darn joy!
Star: True! As a Brit, I can’t believe I missed this British movie back in 2008 when it was released! Many thanks to our amazing friend Steph (@stephastar) for recommending this funny, thoughtful, and uplifting romance!
Folks, Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging is about Georgia Nicolson (played by Georgia Groome), a British teen with less-than-stellar self-esteem, who, through her crush on schoolmate Robbie (Aaron Taylor Johnson), must learn that appearances can’t trump authenticity. Georgia also learns that the stupid things bullies say can feel terrible but they actually make less sense than a pondweed teapot.
Duck: Which is NOT going to keep your duck tisane warm. (Trust me. I’ve tried.)
Star: Teapots aside, (there’s a phrase we Brits don’t say very often,) while it’s a true joy of a movie, bullying and negative body image are key themes in Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging. And as someone who was bullied for my appearance as a child, they’re also themes that are close to my duck-shaped heart.
Duck: I’m proud of you for surviving that, Star! And the theming is important, I agree. Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging does a flipper-worthy job of showing how insecurities about body image and pretty privilege can make being a victim of bullying even harder. While it does all this, it manages to be super-ducking HILARIOUS too—I quacker-laughed so hard that my beak-holes trembled. At one point, I even lost half a pondweed fritter. Now THAT’S what I call HEALING.
Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging also shows the difficulties change can bring to a family with an uncertain future. Not to give any pond-suck spoilers, but at one point, Georgia Nicolson (played by Georgia Groome) actually proves her salt when she does something about the rollercoaster changes that seem out of her control. It’s a super-ducking emotionally brave move but, like many brave moves, it doesn’t feel brave to Georgia. However, it’s a moment of deep authenticity that changes a duck of lot for her. We really appreciated Groome’s ability to enter that emotional moment so fully as Georgia on screen.
In general, Groome really does give a beak-to-flippers pond-worthy performance that I can’t quack enough about! It’s by turns, heartfelt, deep, whacky, and LOL-funny.
Star: Agreed! This actor, who was young at the time, keeps our beak-holes glued to the screen while her character learns that all the pressure to look a certain way (skinny, busty, blonde, with a certain-shaped nose) is just pond-slap silliness.
Actually, this seems like a perfect, duck-shaped moment for a quick content tag: Because of the nature of the storyline, U.K. terms like “minger” (and others) are used—and they’re just not nice. Such slang (which is cruel, misogynistic language over there) can be triggering, especially if it’s part of your history. In support of the movie, these terms are used on many U.K. playgrounds—they’re a sad reality of life—and the movie doesn’t sugarcoat this. That said, if such terms are triggering for you, this is a duck-shaped heads-up!
Now, Georgia Groome was fabulous, but what about some of the other performances, Duck?
Duck: Personally, my beak-holes were perked by Aaron Taylor Johnson’s portrayal of Robbie, the boy of Georgia’s dreams. (As a queer duck, he’s also totally my type. *quacker-swoon*) Anyway, Johnson did a fine job of portraying a character with deep integrity who also has a sparkling dose of new-boy charm. His chemistry with Georgia Groome is also super-ducking exquisite! The ending of this movie is a duck-shaped doozy—by which I mean it’s heart-filled and sunshine-packed. Really good for my duck-heart! There’s also an important lesson at the core of this film. Be you, as fully as you can.
Star: And with feather-tickling performances by Karen Taylor, Alan Davies, Manjeeven Grewal, Eleanor Tomlinson, and Georgia Henshaw, among others, this was a dream cast. But what about diversity, Duck?
Duck: The movie doesn’t do a terrible job with diversity, but it could do better. We weren’t talking a whole lot about diversity in 2008, yet Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging does have some racial diversity and a little LGBTQIA+ diversity, too—though the gay character’s identity is a late reveal. Given this movie has such a large cast, we’d have loved to see more plus-sized characters (duck yes!), more racial diversity among the main cast, LGBTQIA+ characters who are out from the start, and more diversity in general. That said, the central friends in this movie aren’t generally normatively TV-presenting, and we do appreciate that.
And can I just add that one of the boys did not deserve the cuteness factor he received at the end, IMDO? Rewarding someone in a celebratory way when they’ve been pretty much forcing someone to kiss them—against her will—doesn’t seem duck-shaped. But we do accept the story was made in 2008. During that year, I was still eating geraniums beak-first straight out of people’s gardens—I honestly thought they were weeds. Doesn’t excuse the behavior, of course.
Star: I get what you’re saying, my fine-feathered friend. And those flowers did give you the stomach gurglies.
Duck: Oh! Don’t get me quacking! Geraniums are ducking bad for a bird’s entire system!
Star: Anyway, we recommend this HILARIOUS and super-sweet drama.
Duck: It certainly tickled my flippers and left my duck-heart aglow. Thanks for reading, friends!
At the time of writing, you can watch Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging here:
Amazon Prime (rental)
Apple TV (rental)
YouTube (rental)
Google Play (rental)
Fandango At Home (rental)
Featured image: Designed by Star Tavares. Photo taken via screenshot from the movie trailer on YouTube.
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