Release Date: May 28, 1999
Starring: Hugh Grant, Julia Roberts, Rhys Ifans, Emma Chambers, Gina McKee, Hugh Bonneville
Directed by: Roger Michell
Distributed by: Universal Pictures
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (sexual content, brief strong language)
Notting Hill, as it turns out, is a small borough this side of London and has absolutely no relationship whatsoever to that famed burg of old in which Robin Hood used to terrorize the resident sheriff. It also is the principal setting for this latest romantic comedy starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts as unaware and unlikely romantics under the direction of veteran helmer Roger Michell.
Grant stars as Notting Hill bookshop owner William Thacker, and in the company of a cast made up of principally Englishmen, his usually over-quaint accent and mannerisms are more subdued and less noticeable. His bookstore is one day graced by the presence of Hollywood A-lister Anna Scott (Roberts, playing a minimally disguised version of herself), and before he knows it she's gone -- but not for long. In a chance encounter the next day, he spills coffee all over her shirt and invites her back to his place for a change of clothes, and in no time at all they've got a genuinely charming romance going. But Anna's Hollywood status has a price to it, and soon the two have a falling which, because of their romantically inclined nature, they must sort out.
In that sense the movie is rather formulaic, following a typical pattern of encounters and interactions which build up to a delicate relationship. That shattered, the movie once again resumes building, albeit much quicker, a more stable one, and one that, at the movie's end, is implied to have no end in sight.
But the Richard Curtis script humors the audience with plenty of comedic premise. Thacker's roommate, Spike (Rhys Ifans), is a compilation of every horrible roommate there ever was, and at the same time is still loveable in the nature of the movie. Thacker also has a small group of siblings and friends to fall back on during the emotionally low points of the movie, and the supporting cast plays up to this purpose.
Largely, it is Grant and Roberts who make this movie work. The premise is unrealistic, and the only reason it's momentarily acceptable is that an actress could fall for an average joe if the average joe were Hugh Grant. With Roberts, he helps to generate a great amount of chemistry, however, and for that reason the picture is a stunningly charming venture instead of a flat-footed rag. The relationship and rapport is lighthearted, and with little consequence -- there's no question of will-they or won't-they, it's just a matter of what happens between now and when-they-do -- and Grant and Roberts pass that time nicely.
Notting Hill is one of the first pictures of the year to achieve all of this with little to say against it. Only the fact that there are a couple of unnecessary scenes near the end of the film and the stumbling block of suspending reality for two hours are what prevents this movie from being a contemporary classic. Nevertheless, sure to be one of the more memorable romantic episodes at the end of the calendar.
all contents © 1999 Craig Roush