The romantic hurdles experienced by the teen set at a British school are juxtaposed with the same type of difficulties experienced by their elders in this pat, adolescent view of life and love by director Michael Apted for a British TV series called First Love. The English teacher (Alison Steadman) is in love with the gardener (Garry Cooper) and has her own problems to handle. Young Alan (John Albasiny) is in love with Ann (Abigail Cruttenden) and is hyperventilating over the fact that he will have to kiss her in the school play, in front of everyone. Alan and his best buddies are more or less focused on the nature of sex and how to get it and what to do from there, while Alan's hero the gardener may turn out to have feet of clay. In this standard TV fare, the young actors are not quite at the same par as the adults, making their antics less engaging than otherwise.
~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide