Dating Amber

It is about high school kids dealing with the difficulties of growing up, particularly sexuality and including being bullied at school. The novelty of this story is that a lesbian girl and a reluctant gay boy decide to hush their heckler friends by starting a relationship. They visit each others families, they show PDA at school, but deep down have an agreement that it is just for show and after graduation each will go their own way.

The story is for the most part handled very well. As has become the custom for scripts with high school characters there is a bit over-emphasis on sex and sex-related discussions. I doubt this is representative of the average Irish high school. Still much of it is done to inject humor into a story which otherwise has very serious implications.

My wife and I watched it at home on DVD from our public library, we were entertained. The Irish humor is quite different from American humor.

A great little movie about the very scary coming of age experience and process of finding oneself. It has everything from the awkward educational sex video at school, the inevitable crush on a teacher, as well as inappropriate hand jobs in a movie theatre. But at the heart of the story is the initially platonic relationship between two confused teenagers, that turns into a mutually supportive friendship, making sure that emotional uncertainties about sexual orientation are resolved rather than become an inhibition.

Really loved this gentle film and a twist on a trope that is normally dominated by heterosexual narratives. Both the young actors are great with an excellent supporting cast. There's a beautiful use of a U2 song that I found surprising and definitely sprung on the tears. Would recommend.

Those who think this movie is bad, must have some hateful feelings in their bones, because it shows really well how gay people had to live back in the 90's. Not 10 out of 10, because the end may have been a bit better, but the movie itself shoes the struggle of being gay in the 90's and inn a country like Ireland very well. Please make more movies like this.

Well shot and well acted, particularly by Petticrew and O 'Shea in the leads, this sweet and often funny Irish film tells a familiar story in a refreshing way. Though I don't recall the year ever being mentioned in the film, setting the story in the mid 90s has the advantage of avoiding the often obnoxious trap of present day set teen stories that fixate on smart phones and social media. Without that, Dating Amber is able to depict a friendship based on human contact, conversation and shared experiences.

An underdeveloped B story regarding Eddie's parents being on the cusp of divorce that has no real impact on the A story is a minor issue, overshadowed by the sheer charm of it all and the authenticity of the two leads.