Loose Connections

A welcome attempt to revive and update - steering clear of crass stereotypes - the bitter-sweet romance of classics like I Was a Male War Bride and the Tracy-Hepburn vehicles. Having built her own car, dogmatic feminist Sally drives off to Munich, accompanied by mild chauvinist Harry, who fits none of her requirements that her co-driver be vegetarian, gay and German-speaking. As their odyssey turns into a series of disasters, their differences (in class, education and attitudes to sex) flare up and then fizzle out under the benevolent influence of Glenfiddich. Maggie Brooks' script, from her own novel, may be a mite too schematic, and in the first half creates a Sally too cold and condescending to win much sympathy, but Duncan and Rea are both impressive. Best of all, however, is the portrayal of the English abroad: Bedford boozers in Rhineland bierkellers, Liverpool loonies celebrating after a soccer victory, and fleeting bonhomie between strangers stranded in strange lands are all wittily and subtly observed.