NOTTING HILL by DeWyNGaLe Rating: B+
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Julia Roberts is what I would call today's biggest female box office draw. She is best known for her romantic comedies, such as Pretty Woman and My Best Friend's Wedding, and she just added another film to the ongoing list of great films she has done. In Notting Hill, Roberts plays Anna Scott, an extremely popular and talked about actress. In a way, Roberts is actually playing herself her in Notting Hill.
William Thatcher, a resident of Notting Hill, London, is a bookstore worker who is a huge fan of Anna Scott's. He is faced with the reality he will never get to meet her, but he continues his life anyway. William's entire life and his thoughts are changed one afternoon when Anna Scott herself enters his travel book shop and browses around. Little do the both of them know that Anna's visiting that bookstore will turn into an ongoing relationship with William. The two continue to see each other, and they are both completely surprised and happy with the relationship that has come to be.
>From here, we go into the regular, old romantic comedy theme. The two are split up, they get back together, there's a fight, etc. The exact same formula is used in virtually every romantic comedy, but in Notting Hill, the acting from Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant made it so it didn't seem like the same old thing. Julia Roberts is terrific, as she is in all of her films. Her character is also quite a likable one. She was a very interesting insight into what it is actually like to be an actress that attracts so much attention. We got to learn that acting isn't all it is put up to be. Anna is played by Julia with a lot of feeling and emotion, which really brought her character to life.
Hugh Grant has been around for awhile in show business, but he hasn't really been in anything that will give him a wonderful name in moviegoer's minds. Notting Hill just did the trick for him. Look for Hugh Grant to be seen in many more movies after his terrific, realistic performance in Notting Hill.
There are two main problems present in Notting Hill which took away a lot from the film as a whole. One of those problems is the character of Spike, played by Rhys Ifans, who is William's roommate. The character is very annoying, disgusting, un-funny, and his presence in the film almost made me want to walk out. Others in the theater laughed at his grossness, but I was petrified. The second main problem present in Notting Hill is the way it will use a character for a laugh, and then throw them away like they were yesterday's newspaper. We get to see a character for about five seconds, and then they disappear after they have tried made us laugh. I don't like it when films use characters like this for cheap laughs, and I rather see these characters more often in the film, and to see them become more developed.
Roberts and Grant weren't the only ones that gave outstanding performances. The supporting performances from actors added a lot to the film as well. Gina McKee, who played Bella, gave an extremely emotional performance. Others who gave great performances were Hugh Bonneville as Bernie, Emma Chambers as Honey, and James Dreyfus as Max. All of these characters are a part of William's family, and all of their lives were changed by the meeting with Anna Scott.
Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant go perfectly together as a romantic comedy couple. Their characters are both humorous, smart, likable, and on they are a lot of fun to watch. In many romantic comedies, the two main characters do not go together very well on screen, but in Notting Hill, Roberts and Grant are perfectly cast. Although their relationship is often unbelievable, and much like those of others in other romantic comedies, they are both very likable and enjoyable.
Notting Hill has a great story. It shows that your life can be changed in one second, by something you never imagined would happen. William's life was completely changed by Anna Scott, and it wasn't because she was a huge actress, but because of the person she was. His family was also changed by the great personality of Anna, and not because she was a huge, hyped actress. I think that the moral story here is very true and it should be learned by many of us in today's world.
The Bottom Line- A realistic romantic comedy with a brain. A huge brain.
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