It has fallen to a Czech visitor to take the curse off films about the generation gap. [Forman] really likes America. He could probably show us raw nerve ends in a drum-majorette rally.

Forman's, in short, is a talent in a thousand.

Forman plays on this conflict of styles, catching at all the pedantic nuances of American jargon and pop culture to create a universally recognisable image of man's unfounded optimism.

Mr. Forman has made a comedy in the United States; and he has shown that his gift works on either side of the Atlantic.