Margi Clarke is on smashing form here as the gobby Liverpudlian lass ("Teresa") who, together with her pal "Elaine" (a strong performance from Alexandra Pigg), is out on the town hoping to fleece some well heeled punters. They are doing ok on that front - even if they have to do quite a bit of running - when they encounter "Peter" (Peter Firth) and his mate "Andrei" (Alfred Molina) who have a night of shore leave from their Soviet ship. "Teresa" and "Peter" immediately click and after their few hours together, sans sex, they declare their undying love and determination to meet again. How might this happen, though? They are thousands of miles apart and she hasn't tuppence to rub together. Her plan: write to President Brezhnev. His reply: an invitation to visit and a plane ticket. Can she go, will she go, is it all just a daft pipe dream? Whether they do or not is actually quite incidental to the story. It's a whirlwind romance presented to us in a whirlwind fashion that just oozes character. Firth isn't the most versatile of actors, he is a bit one-gear I think, but here that serves as the perfect foil for the brassy, sassy Clarke who provides for an entertaining persona that us Celts can appreciate easily. It's dated, sure, but somehow this love story with a bottle of vodka thrown in still works fine.

Go to full review