Film Review - Notting Hill Film Review

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House review of Notting Hill (1999)

This romantic comedy with its witty and clever script written by Richard Curtiss of "Four Weddings and A Funeral" fame is a delight.

Set in the trendy London suburb of Notting Hill the story concerns William Thacker (Hugh Grant) who meets beautiful film star Anna Scott when she suddenly walks into his travel bookshop. They meet again over spilled orange juice, William kindly inviting her to his flat to change her ruined clothes. Love develops between the two as William introduces her to the pleasures of ordinary life, such as having a birthday dinner for his sister. The different reactions of his friends to Anna´s movie star status make this one of the funniest scenes in the movie. The party also reinforces Anna´s belief that she has met a genuinely nice guy.

Problems arise however, when Anna´ s world intrudes in the form of unwanted publicity. William, not being a celebrity, finds Anna´s anger when she suspects Spike (his flat mate) of causing this situation difficult to understand. There is also the obstacle of Anna´s boyfriend who suddenly arrives from America.

The tender and moving love story, which develops as William and Anna, solve the conflicts between their different situations keeps you involved until the very last minute. The central question of the movie "Can a movie star find happiness with an ordinary person?" is explored with a surprising amount of emotional depth.

Hugh Grant shines as the very appealing William, diffident but intelligent, who is suddenly thrown into Anna´s unreal world of press conferences and publicity.

Julia Roberts convinces in the difficult role of Anna who wants to escape from the pressures of her acting career into a simpler and happier life. She handles the role with emotional maturity successfully portraying Anna as an ordinary person as well as a movie star.

They are helped by supporting actors who all play their roles well -Hugh Bonneville and Gina McKee are especially good as the miserable stockbroker Bennie and Bella, the ´old flame´ of Williams who rejected him for his friend.

‘Notting Hill’ has a genuinely funny script, excellent acting and direction and much more depth than one would expect from this kind of romantic comedy. It’s a celebration of love in modern times.