Notting Hill

The funny thing about Notting Hill is that Hugh Grant comes off as more charming than Julia Roberts. William Thacker (Grant) remains poised & polite throughout all the madness happening in his life, whereas Anna Scott (Roberts) becomes unlikable at times. Still, this romantic comedy is full of likable characters and amusing moments. I thoroughly enjoyed each dinner scene, especially the interactions between Bella (Gina McKee) and Max (Tim McInnerny). Notting Hill isn't one of my favorite creations by Richard Curtis, but it features many elements I like from his writing and it's an enjoyable movie.

Notting Hill is a district of west London that was built as a fashionable Victorian suburb, became very run down during the mid twentieth century and is now once again fashionable, but which retains a distinctly cosmopolitan atmosphere, with London's biggest street market and many small specialist shops. (My wife and I sometimes go there to shop for bargains). The hero of the film, William Thacker, is the owner of one of these shops, a travel bookshop. The film concerns the romance which develops between William and a young woman named Anna Scott whom he meets when she comes into his shop.

As another reviewer has pointed out, 'Notting Hill' is based around a theme, love between people of unequal social standing, which has provided literature with some of its greatest works, both comic and serious, dating back at least to the tale of King Cophetua and the beggar-maid. Although many of these stories tell of a poor but honest lad who aspires to the hand of a princess or titled lady, Anna is not part of the Royal Family or the British aristocracy. She rather belongs to an even more exclusive elite, the Hollywood starocracy. She is a hugely popular film star who earns at least $15,000,000 per film, and pops into William's shop during a brief stay in London to publicise her latest movie.

Although Anna is played by a real-life Hollywood superstar, Julia Roberts, the film is very typically British. William is similar to an number of other Hugh Grant characters, being a shy, diffident middle-class Englishman, probably public-school and university educated. (Despite this background, he is not particularly wealthy following a divorce from his first wife and is forced to share his lodgings with an eccentric Welsh flatmate, Spike). The humour of the film, particularly the dinner-party banter between William and his friends, is mostly of the typically ironic, self-deprecating variety popular in Britain, especially in middle-class circles. Rhys Ifans's Spike, by contrast, typifies another strand of British humour, the eccentric zaniness found in the likes of 'Monty Python'. Spike's strong provincial accent suggests a more working-class background; this possibly accounts for the teasing that he has to put up with from the other characters, although he takes it all in good part.

William may be diffident, self-deprecating and unsuccessful, but he is probably the stronger of the two main characters. Anna is beautiful and successful, but underneath it all she is insecure, worried about losing her fame and fortune and about her inability to form lasting relationships with men. Early on in the film she has another boyfriend, Jeff, but it is clear that he is only the latest in a long string of unsatisfactory romances which have left her emotionally (and in some cases physically) bruised. The scene where Anna says to William 'I'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her' is the one where we see her at her most vulnerable. Although both characters are in their late twenties or thirties, it is noteworthy that Anna refers to 'girl and boy' rather than 'woman and man'. Anna's vulnerability also comes through in her reaction in the scene where hordes of paparazzi appear on William's doorstep; William tries to play down the incident, and Spike finds it hugely amusing, but Anna is horrified. (The film was made shortly after the death of Princess Diana; this scene possibly reflects British disgust with the antics of the paparazzi, who were regarded as being partly to blame for the Princess's death). Like others, I found myself wondering how much Anna's personality reflects Julia Roberts's own; she too has had a number of unhappy relationships.

Important roles are also played by Tim McInnerny and Gina McKee as William's best friend Max and his disabled wife Bella; the love of this ordinary couple for each other provides a more realistic, down-to-earth counterpart to the fairy-tale romance of William and Anna, helping to anchor the film more firmly in reality. The main charm, however, lies in the relationship of the two main characters, as Anna comes to realise that the seemingly ordinary William has a kindness and decency which count for more than the monstrous egos of Jeff and his like. Like 'Four Weddings and a Funeral', which was also written by Richard Curtis and starred Hugh Grant, 'Notting Hill' is one of the warmest and most human British films of the nineties. 7/10

Not usually impressed with Romantic Comedies, i found this one strangely compelling. It really was a nice movie, littered with great characters, especially Spike played by Rhys Ifans (Hilarious).

The story demonstrates to the extreme that love can occur between the most unlikely of people, and the humorous portrayal of this, is both touching and realistic. And i mean realistically created, not necessarily true realism.

Worthy of your attention, this well written romantic comedy is a must for fans of the genre and is a good gamble if your not.

8/10

Romantic Comedy is my Second Favourite Genre in Movies following only Dramas. What is it that makes a great Rom-Com? Is it the chemistry between the Protagonists? Is it an unclichéd and non-banal script? Is it the Direction? Is it a mesmerising Soundtrack Or the enthralling Cinematography? Maybe it's a combination of all these. Notting Hill is one of those few which have all these ingredients to make for a great Rom-Com.

Notting Hill is the story of William Thacker, a diffident divorcee who lives in a house with a Blue Door and runs a not so lucrative Travel Book Shop in a small cheerful neighbourhood of London called Notting Hill. It is the story of his eventful rendezvous with the fabulous, ravishingly beautiful Anna Scott, a renowned American Actress and the love affair that ensues.

As William says in the movie 'Surreal, But Nice', is exactly how I'd describe my experience watching Notting Hill. It is one of those Movies which makes us believe in fateful encounters, in the enigmatic inexplicable appeal to which our very hearts tremble, in the aching separations and the exhilaratingly joyous 'Happily Ever After'. Some people might be of the opinion that these so called Rom-Coms though exquisite, portray an unrealistic affair, that the Writers conjuring such Fables live in Oblivion and not in the real world. To some extent this might be the hard truth. After all what are the chances of me running into Julia Roberts? Probably next to zero or, to be a hardcore realist, absolutely zero. These Movies might give false hope to the heartbroken or the lonely, but it is Hope nonetheless. Hope, that I might bump into a significant other while fetching for Orange Juice and that some people do spend their whole lives together. And that is what I'd prefer to believe. After all I am guilty of being the Hopeless Romantic.

What I like about the movie is that it isn't just some random Girl Meets Boy Story. Albeit being a Rom-Com, Roger Michell tries to dwell a little deeper into each character's Inhibitions, Hopes and their Psyche. The 'Last Brownie Scene' is a testament to the same. This very brief scene is my favourite from the movie. It portrays immaculately how each character on the table has their own Wins and Fiascos, Dreams and Inhibitions and how life never goes on as intended. As Bella very aptly says - 'C'est La Vie'.

'Hugh Grant' plays William Thacker while 'Julia Roberts' is Anna Scott. Their Chemistry is most coveted and undeniable on screen. 'Rhys Ifans' plays the eccentric roommate Spike and 'Gina McKee' plays Bella, among the troupe of Artists employed by Michell.

The enthralling Soundtrack is an anthology of Songs by various Artists which works flawlessly for each scene. My favourite among them being 'When You Say Nothing At All' by Ronan Keating.

In short, Notting Hill is an absolute delight to watch. It may not be the best Rom-Com out there, but it definitely is worthwhile.

A Review by - Mohammed Saood.

(A Joseph still awaiting his June)

Whether or not realistic, this is a wonderfully touching fairy tale like story of the romance between two people of unequal social and financial standing. The beautiful, rich, and famous American movie star is superbly captured by the incomparable and always endearing Julia Roberts, who brings such a wonderful vulnerability to her roles. Hugh Grant is perfect as the shy, stammering, bumbling, unassuming, obscure, and not very affluent London bookseller, who shares a flat with his zany, weird roommate, Spike.

The tale revolves around the world's most famous actress, Anna Scott, who visits a Notting Hill travel bookshop and thereby meets the very ordinary British bookseller, William Thacker. Improbable as it might seem, the two fall in love despite the fact that Anna already has a 'significant other' in the form of the obnoxious star, Jeff, who treats her poorly. Alas, Anna and William's romance is of course subject to hounding by the ubiquitous media, making the course of true love definitely not run smooth.

Just an aside, but did the screenwriters get Hugh Grant's character's name from the Victorian novelist, William Makepeace Thackeray? It seems quite a coincidence. Ha, ha. Anyway, nice name...

The film does a marvelous job conveying what must resemble Julia Roberts' own fishbowl life, subject to constant media scrutiny and innuendo. She must have identified strongly with the character she was playing, not only the media nuisance but also the failed relationships so common among film stars. Her hounding by the paparazzi is also of course reminiscent of that plaguing the late Princess Diana, and of course, sadly, resulting in her death.

The portrayal of William's friends is very touching here, as their reaction transforms from understandable awe at socializing with such a famous star, to accepting and treating Anna as basically an ordinary person and good friend. The viewer gets a sense of how much this response, this genuine friendship means to Anna. One of William's friends is a disabled wife in a wheelchair. Her normal, ordinary life and attitude are well captured and would be well received, I believe, by viewers with physical disabilities.

The love story is beautifully depicted. The sadness of Anna's failed past romantic involvements is conveyed, and despite the fame, her vulnerability as being really just 'an ordinary girl in love with an ordinary boy'. The portrayal of William is touching, as he copes with all the media attention, sees the actual person behind all that fame, wealth, and glamour, and tries to give Anna the genuine security and the 'ordinary life' she so desperately craves. A fabulous, moving, and ultra romantic film with a relevant message regarding modern society's perception and treatment of its movie stars. We can all learn a lesson here.