Notting Hill (1999)
“I’m also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.” – Anna
Notting Hill (1999)
Directed by: Roger Michell
Written by: Richard Curtis
Starring: Hugh Grant, Julia Roberts, Rhys Ifans
The best rom-com of all time.
Now, I know that statement will incite a lot of protest, eye-rolling, and flat-out dismissal from the majority of you (these being the standard responses I receive when telling people this in person), but I’ll do my best to lay out my case below.
Written by the master of British rom-coms himself, Richard Curtis (Love Actually, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones’s Diary, The Boat that Rocked, About Time), Notting Hill follows simple bookshop owner William Thacker (Grant), whose life is thrown into disarray when the biggest movie star in the world, Anna Scott (Roberts) comes into his bookshop. Anna and Will strike up a romance over the coming months as they try to balance the normality of his everyday life and the glamour of hers.
There are multiple aspects of the plot to unpack. Firstly, what a brilliantly simple idea by Curtis. Much like the concept of Four Weddings and a Funeral is so simply explained in the title (a group of friends attend four weddings and a funeral), Notting Hill explores what is a pretty common daydream – what if you ran into your biggest celebrity crush? How would you act? What if they were interested in you? This simplicity (and believability even) provides the audience with a main character that they can relate to.
Secondly, Julia Roberts is basically playing herself in this film, which is the sort of fun meta-casting surely everyone can appreciate. Anna Scott is the biggest film star in the world, while Roberts owned the 90s as a leading lady - starring in Pretty Woman, Sleeping with the Enemy, The Pelican Brief, and My Best Friend’s Wedding leading up to this film, before going on to win an Oscar for Erin Brokovich in 2000. Put simply, Roberts was the highest-paid actress in the world throughout most of the 1990s and the first half of the 2000s (ironically in the film Anna gets asked what she got paid for her last film and replies “$15 million” – this was Roberts’ fee for Notting Hill). She was allegedly “the one and only” choice for the role of Anna Scott, which proved to be a casting masterstroke. Roberts is great as the beautiful yet neurotic leading lady, and spars with Grant perfectly.
The other half of the romantic duo is the enigmatic Hugh Grant, who was thrust into fame after starring in Four Weddings and a Funeral five years earlier, and who emerged as the perfect leading man for Curtis to write for. Reprising this exact character in a number of other films (notably Four Weddings and Love Actually), Grant is fantastic as the bumbling, vulnerable, yet somehow charming and charismatic everyman. Grant’s performance as Will is outstanding, delivering Curtis’ stellar script with aplomb, and exhibits genuine chemistry with Roberts.
Whilst the two leads jump off the screen, and could carry this film with even a mediocre supporting cast, the support is fantastic. Whilst it isn’t an ensemble of A-listers like Love Actually, it’s a British smorgasbord of comedic talent. Most prominently, Rhys Ifans’ portrayal of Will’s quirky housemate Spike is as unforgettable as it is hilarious. In fact, I’d go so far as to argue that Spike is the aspect of this film that elevates it above all other Curtis films – he’s THAT funny. The casting of Will’s extended friendship group (with Hugh Bonneville as Bernie, James Dreyfus as Martin, Gina McKee as Bella, Tim McInnerny as Max, and Emma Chambers as Honey) is wonderful, as they genuinely seem like an extended family, and bring a believable normality to Will’s world. There is also a fun uncredited Alec Baldwin cameo, and keep your eyes peeled for a twelve-year-old Mischa Barton!
Much like any other Curtis film, there are one-liners aplenty, both comedic and romantic (see Anna’s famous quote above), which contribute to this heart-warming story about love against all odds. Which leads me to my next point – yes, this is a romantic film. I admit that Anna Scott’s character definitely seems to walk all over Will throughout the film, detracting from the ‘perfect couple’ narrative you get in movies like The Notebook. However, their meet-cute at the start, their first date, the complication that arrives mid-movie, and then the tying up of all the loose ends at the end of the film – these are romantic comedy intangibles that cannot be dismissed. These, aided by the chemistry between Roberts and Grant, and accompanied by a few crooning Ronan Keating classics and romantic settings (the private garden scene, anyone?) add up to a great romantic comedy. Breakup? First date? Hungover? This film seems to fit the bill for any occasion and will put a big smile on your face if nothing else.
In summary – come for Hugh and Julia, stay for Spike, and you’ll be back before you know it.
If you’re looking for a movie to watch, why not make it the best rom-com of all time?
Rating: 9.5/10