Reviewed - Scenes of a sexual nature: THE tabloid press has feasted on scenes of a sexual nature on Hampstead Heath in London, when they have involved indiscreet actors and singers. "It's Hampstead Heath!" declares one of the characters inScenes of a Sexual Nature. "They think it's weird if you're not having sex."

The speaker (Andrew Lincoln) is sunbathing with his wife (Holly Aird) while secretly ogling a scantily dressed young Frenchwoman (Eglantine Rembauville). It's a warm, sunny August afternoon on the rolling expanses of the heath as director Ed Blum and screenwriter Aschlin Ditta observe, with varying levels of success, disparate couples at different stages in their relationships.

The most engaging vignette benefits from the casting of Ewan McGregor and Douglas Hodge as a gay couple who, after 15 years together, discuss adopting a child. The most poignant brings the two oldest characters (Eileen Atkins and Benjamin Withrow) together on the same bench. The most amusing involves a randy seducer (Tom Hardy) attempting to seduce a fiery woman (Sophie Okonedo) who has just split up with her partner. The least plausible, despite committed performances from Adrian Lester and Catherine Tate, deals with an apparently happy couple getting divorced for no apparent reason.

Made on a shoestring and with a great deal of goodwill from the talented cast Blum assembled, the episodic film is essentially slight and sketchy. Several couplings are too contrived to accept and burdened with self-conscious dialogue. Just like a lazy afternoon spent in a park, the movie passes the time but is hardly memorable.