This is a really likeable film about an awkward girl on a quest to loose her virginity. Her voyage through a sea of daggy, desperate, sleazy, and suicidal guys, while she attempts to retain some self respect and find herself, is funny and painfully realistic. She is a uni student, working in an obscure, cramped, and rambling bookshop, where she reads about a romantic world. After ruthlessly rejecting a chance proposition from a charming book-down-the-trousers would-be shoplifter, she opens her mind. What if he was her great love((mdash))now banished forever?

Her problem is that she has been telling any guy brave enough to approach her, 'Piss off, creep' for so long that now she has no idea how to chat one up((mdash))or even be chatted up. Despite telling herself that anyone with a dick will do, she is of course hoping that he might be a little bit romantic((mdash))or even just 'nice'. So begin her adventures. She moves from one possibility to another in a somewhat episodical manner. For anyone((mdash))girl or guy((mdash))who's ever been a virgin or felt a little awkward, different, or yes, even desperate, you may feel a pang (or cringe) of recognition while watching this film. Michela Noonan is perfect as the quite attractive unnamed girl, looking for her own identity. Despite an overly dramatic cop-out ending, Strange Fits of Passion is a warm, humorous gem. Don't miss it.