大象传媒

It may not be as more-ish as its namesake, but Popcorn is just as lacking in nutritional value. A teenage comedy that ushers us behind the screens of a British multiplex, it sees shy boy Danny (ex-EastEnders actor Jack Ryder) trying to woo co-worker Suki (ex-Hollyoak-er Jodi Albert) using lessons learned from the movies. Alas, it's hard to imagine other filmmakers following the example of an eager-to-impress misfire that makes Waiting look like Clerks.

Unlike 90 per cent of the employees in these wage-slave romps, Popcorn doesn't exactly lack ambition. Darren Paul Fisher's pick 'n' mix direction throws in slapstick, sight gags, sound gags (movie dialogue finishing characters' sentences) and manga-esque inserts. At one end of the scale there's the Scream-style commentary on rom-com conventions, while at the other the softcore titillation of film-within-the-film Sarah's Highly Innocent Teenage Exploration (note the rib-busting acronym). But whether aiming high or low, few of the jokes hit the target.

"AS CARDBOARD AS A COMING SOON STANDEE"

Those who've worked in a box office may relate to some of the situations (dealing with narky punters, for example), but the outcome of Danny's tongue-tied travails is hardly pressing. What's the use of a 'twist' ending when the protagonists are as cardboard as the 'Coming Soon' standees? With the leads decorative but dull, the only signs of spark come from usherettes Kate Maberly (who's learning to talk dirty) and Ophelia Lovibond (who's already pretty good at it). At one point we're told, "Perfect movie moments do exist in real life," but not in Popcorn, alas.

Popcorn is released in UK cinemas on Friday 2nd March 2007.