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Sparkle sees up-and-comer Shaun Evans as Sam, a go-getter who plays fast and loose in money and love. It's the women who really sparkle though, namely Stockard Channing doing Mrs Robinson, Lesley Manville playing mum and Amanda Ryan as the 'Miss Robinson' who stops Sam in his tracks. The mix of comedy and drama doesn't feel so free and easy as Lawless Heart (2001) - the last film by Neil Hunter and Tom Hunsinger - but it has a similarly quaint charm.

Evans has his work cut out eliciting sympathy for Sam. Soon after moving to London he seduces man-eating PR honcho Sheila (Channing) to secure a job as her assistant, and then puts the moves on her daughter Kate (Ryan). Initially he's unaware of Kate's parentage, but even when he does found out, his deepening feelings stop him from confessing. It's a credit to Evans that Sam isn't wholly repulsive, instead playing up his naiveté. Nonetheless, Evans doesn't have enough sweetness or swagger to make his liaison with Sheila feel credible.

"A SUBTLE BRITISH TANG TO THE HUMOUR"

It's easy to see where the story is headed, and the convenient way in which lives intersect isn't as persuasive in the big city as it is in the small-town setting of Lawless Heart. Those contrivances aside, the strength of Hunter and Hunsinger is in allowing their actors to flesh out the characters. Manville is a treat as a 40-something aspiring singer, and generates a cheeky chemistry with Bob Hoskins playing her meek landlord. Channing balances the selfishness of Sheila against a bitter self-awareness, and Ryan adds steely resolve to the clichéd, outward appearance of rom-com kookiness. Don't expect belly laughs, but a subtle British tang to the humour outshines those tinselly Hollywood moments.

Sparkle is out in the UK on 17th August 2007.