NOTTING HILL
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1999 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): *** 1/2
In an inspired bit of casting, Julia Roberts plays Julia Roberts in a
princess and commoner story titled NOTTING HILL. Actually she uses the
name of Anna Scott, but we all know it's Roberts playing Roberts.
As Anna Scott, Roberts plays an extremely attractive star who spends her
life dodging photographers and making $15,000,000 a picture. Now, that's
a real stretch for her. What's amazing is how likable and vulnerable she
makes this poor little rich girl.
As exquisitely directed by Roger Michell and smartly scripted by Richard
Curtis, the movie easily transcends its highly contrived setup. This is
a comedic romance that makes you fall in love with love. And it's a
romantic comedy that produces huge laughs through dialog that relies on
wry wit rather than crude humor -- the polar opposite of THERE'S
SOMETHING ABOUT MARY.
Starring opposite Roberts is Hugh Grant as William Thacker, the
unassuming owner of a travel bookstore in a working class area of London
known as Notting Hill. Grant is called upon to play an awkward guy who's
shocked at his good fortune in having a movie star take an interest in
him.
For Grant, acting's master of awkwardness, playing Thacker would seem as
natural as it is for Roberts to play Scott. Indeed it is, but both
actors rise above roles in which autopilot performances might have
sufficed. Their chemistry is a joy to behold, and their acting has
wonderful subtlety and grace.
As the movie opens, Thacker commutes his 1,000 yards to the office. A
divorced man, whose wife left him for a bloke who looked like Harrison
Ford, he get his pleasure from his happy, but fairly unsuccessful,
relatives and neighbors.
This day fortune strikes and the famous Anna Scott comes into his store.
Dumbstruck at first, finally he begins to babble and comes up with some
naturally funny little lines. [I once had a similar experience in a
small doctor's office in London in the 1970s, when Diana Rigg, the then
enormously popular star of "The Avengers," sat four feet away from me. I
know how Thacker must have felt.]
Luckily for him, he later rounds a street corner and clumsily spills
orange juice all over her blouse. This causes her to go to his flat to
change. When she leaves for what he assumes will be forever, he doesn't
know quite what to say. "It was nice to meet you," he tells her in a
daze. "Surreal, but nice."
This may already sound like every man's fantasy, and, if you're going to
dream, dream big. When she comes over and plants a big kiss on him, I
thought it might be a daydream sequence, but it wasn't.
"Probably best not to tell anyone about this," she admonishes him when
leaving. "Right, no one," he responds with sad seriousness. "I mean,
I'll tell myself sometime, but I won't believe it."
His irritating flatmate Spike is played in an over-the-top performance
by Rhys Ifans. Spike, with his prominent gold tooth, uncombed hair,
scruffy beard and perpetually dirty feet, supplies much of the movie's
more outlandish humor. A little of Spike can go a long way, which the
editor seems, thankfully, to have realized.
As you can guess, the acting princess does call the bookshop pauper
back. This introduces the problem of where to take her for their first
date. Perhaps something simple like tea at the Ritz?
In a case of mistaken identity, he is assumed to be at her hotel to see
her as part of her movie's press junket. Soon he takes on the identity
of a reporter from "Horse and Hound" magazine. After he speaks to her,
he's forced to ask questions of all of the other stars. [Here in New
York on a press junket myself for TARZAN, this scene hit home as well. I
wonder if I could have used some of his questions?] At any rate, their
meeting is less than perfect as Scott, dressed in a business suit and
tie, apologizes for "that kissing thing."
>From this point their romance goes on and off. The players take the
movie to a level that should not be possible given the triteness of the
basic setup. Every scene, including the dinner with his family, comes
across with incredible honesty and warmth. One suspects that if your
brother brought Julia Roberts home to dinner it could well end up just
as it does in the movie.
Still, it is hard having a relationship with someone who has ten-foot
high pictures of her face painted on every bus in town, as they promote
her latest film. Falling in love with someone this famous, Thacker says
is like opening Pandora's Box. Think about it. If you've had a
relationship with Julia Roberts, don't you think you'd have a bit of
trouble trying to find someone else afterwards?
After scenes that are alternately sweet, funny, humorous, romantic and
poignant, the story finally comes to a close. As you realize it's time
for the characters to leave, you begin to miss them. The only question
is how will the writer end the story. Coming up with the movie's most
energetic moments, he ends it with an exhilarating sequence that dazzles
your mind and heart.
One of the key scenes of the movie has Thacker opening the door of his
apartment and being greeted by reporters who stick mikes in front of his
face, shine lights in his eyes, and shove a camera lens in front of him.
This happened to me the second I opened the door to exit the theater. A
reporter wanted my opinion of the film.
Pointing out how similar this real life experience was to the scene in
the movie, I asked where Julia Roberts was. He said she was in the lobby
waiting for me. Life in this case, I am sad to report, did not imitate
art.
NOTTING HILL runs 2:03 but feels much shorter. It is rated PG-13 for
some sexual situations and a little profanity and would be fine for kids
around 11 and up.
My son Jeffrey, aged 10, who saw the film back in California, said he
really enjoyed it and gave it ***. He said he laughed a lot. His only
complaints were that he didn't understand some of the humor, and he
didn't like some of the bad language.
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Have I seen this movie: Yes
And what did I think: This is a smart, funny, romantic comedy about a famous movie star who falls for just an average joe. Alot of people dream about dating a movie star, and William Thacker, played wonderfully by Hugh Grant gets to do just that. This is one of Grant's better roles, he's very funny here as the travel book salesman... I was cracking up when he was giving the interview posing as a reporter from Horse and Hound Magazine. Julia Roberts is essentially playing herself here. She's also good, but my one complaint is that she seemed rather cold and distant throughout the movie, but that's how the character was written I suppose. Spike, the roommate of William Thacker is also a lot of fun to watch too, as the clueless hippie who we don't even really know what his job is, but then I don't think he knows either. A few of the funnier scenes he had was him showing off his t-shirts, him modeling his underwear in front of the crowd, and him walking into the bathroom while Julia Roberts is in the tub. Roger Michell who directed this film does a nice job of showing us around London, and does a wonderful job with the script. I was hesitant to rent this because romantic comedies aren't exactly my favorite type of movies, but I'm glad I finally did. It's definately worth renting, it will make you feel good and laugh out loud.
I give Notting Hill 4 out of 5 stars
Review written December 13, 1999
