Notting Hill (28 May 1999)
directed by Roger Mitchell
starring Hugh Grant, Julia Roberts, Richard McCabe, Rhys Ifans, Dylan Moran, Roger Frost, Henry Goodman, Alec Baldwin
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MPAA rating: Studio: Working Title Films, Universal Pictures Script: Richard Curtis Music: Trevor Jones Running time: 123 minutes Tags: Comedy; England; London; Romance Tactical strength: [6/10]
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for sexual content and brief strong language
William Thacker (Hugh Grant) runs a travel-book store on Notting Hill, a market area of London. His store's not running well and he's divorced. I don't need to describe William, since Grant only plays one character.
The world famous actress Anna Scott (Julia Roberts) visits William's shop. True to proper British form, William contains his excitement while selling her a book. Later in the street, William turns a corner, collides with Anna on the sidewalk, and spills coffee on her. William offers to let her use his apartment to get cleaned up. Anna takes the initiative and kisses William before she leaves.
In a pleasant comedy of errors, Williams falls in love with Anna and looses her twice -- once because her boyfriend (Alec Baldwin) shows up, once because the press barrage William's apartment. Can the boy love the girl and live happily ever after, even though the girl is a movie star? Of course, they have one last chance to reunite and make up and to leave the audience with the requisite warm-fuzzy feeling.
Roberts plays her role in an understated way that fits in well with the script's British tone. The script does make fun of some of the characters, but never in a harsh or cruel way, but in a way that lets you see the pain of the moment as tomorrow's humor.
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