'Sparks and Ember's is an odd film. It seems to be trying to be a compilation of other rom-com's. It's a little bit Richard Curtis, a little bit Woody Allen, and more than a little inspired by the 'Before Sunset' trilogy.

But is it any good on it's own merit? Annoyingly not quite. Because for all the hard work the two leads are clearly putting in they are let down by a very, very clichéd and weak script, that thinks lines like "you've pulled a cracker there mate" is the height of humour.

There are nice moments, but we've seen them all done so much better elsewhere.

I like Kris Marshall, but this film could never shake off the shadows of those it was clearly trying to imitate.

I'm a Kris Marshall fan and I remember Annelise Hesme from "Hors de Prix" which is one of my favorite films, but this one was a switch-off after 20 minutes. The flashback format wasn't working, the relationship between the two wasn't believable, and Annelise's accent made her English hard to follow at times. The switch-off moment came during a present time sequence when she suddenly turned flirty and which seemed so forced and implausible. The flashback sequences were uncomfortable and claustrophobic. I understand that was the point of that, and also that I did not give the movie a full chance, but life is too short to waste on a situation and characters I don't care about in the first place.

I always welcome writers directing their own films, so I hope Gavin Boyter has better success with his next effort.

Would have liked to like this one but the audio quality and the fact the actors mumbled and muttered made watching it hard work. Gave up in the end. What is it with modern films, so mny seem to have poor sound or the actors just mutter - don't they check before release?