WALKING ON SUNSHINE (12A)

Starring: Hannah Arterton, Annabel Scholey, Giulio Berruti, Katy Brand, Leona Lewis, Giulio Corso, Danny Kirrane, Greg Wise. Directors: Max Giwa, Dania Pasquini.

THREE years after an intense holiday fling, good girl Taylor (Hannah Arterton) flies back to southern Italy for a well-deserved break after her university finals.

She arrives at the airport and skips merrily through a full-scale flash mob to strains of Holiday by Madonna. Taylor’s impulsive sister Maddie (Annabel Scholey), who recently broke up with her long-term boyfriend Doug (Greg Wise), has been staying in the coastal town to “man-tox”.

Shockingly, Maddie has fallen head-over-heels for one of the locals and intends to get married in two days. It transpires that the groom-to-be is Raphael (Giulio Berruti), the same strapping hunk who previously swept Taylor off her feet and still makes her thrum with delight.

Taylor and Raphael agree to conceal their shared history from the blushing bride and they compel good friends Elena (Leona Lewis), Enrico (Giulio Corso), Lil (Katy Brand) and Mikey (Danny Kirrane) to perpetrate the lie. While Taylor wrestles with her emotions, warbling Eternal Flame by The Bangles on the beach as the sun sets, Doug arrives in Puglia, intent on wooing back Maddie.

Walking On Sunshine is as predictable as an early World Cup exit for the England football team but the directors’ lightweight ode to summertime romance is a guilty pleasure.

Subtlety isn’t a strong point and the colour palette is equally lurid: the intense orange of tans sears the retinas as much as the brightly hued swimwear. Pack sunglasses as a precaution.

RATING: 6/10