Notting Hill Review
by David Sunga (zookeeper AT criticzoo DOT com)June 9th, 1999
NOTTING HILL (1999)
Rating: 2.5 stars (out of 4.0)
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Key to rating system:
2.0 stars - Debatable
2.5 stars - Some people may like it
3.0 stars - I liked it
3.5 stars - I am biased in favor of the movie
4.0 stars - I felt the movie's impact personally or it stood out
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A Movie Review by David Sunga
Directed by: Roger Michell
Written by: Richard Curtis
Starring: Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant
Synopsis:
Rich and famous actress Anna Scott (Julia Roberts) is walking down the street when she bumps into William Thacker (Hugh Grant), the chatty, handsome and humble owner of a tiny London bookstore barely making ends meet. Of course he accidentally spills a drink on her, and it's love at first sight. Thacker's underachieving, eccentric friends are thrilled for him, but can a relationship between glitzy Hollywood royalty and a British commoner really work out?
Opinion:
We all know the romance formula. Cute meeting. Girl meets boy. Girl loses boy. Fate draws them together for the big resolution. NOTTING HILL is no different. The twist is that SHE is a celebrity and HE is a commoner, so the situation makes for a fantasy relationship that any theatergoer or fan can identify with. Meanwhile comic relief is provided by an underachieving roommate.
Julia Roberts does an excellent job playing Anna Scott, an overpaid and indulged celebrity who admits she has very limited acting ability and that her "acting" is merely good looks and body doubles. Anna is rotten at relationships and carries a lot of petty emotional baggage. Roberts is absolutely believable as the inept Anna.
NOTTING HILL, however, must be considered a chick flick rather than a guy flick. Women may thrill to a cute guy such as Hugh Grant's William Thacker, but men are sure to abhor Thacker as someone from the legendary Neville Chamberlain school of appeasement. Thacker humbly "understands" when Anna sleeps around with other men. He kowtows and submits and indulges when Anna throws cheap verbal abuse and directs mean-spirited tirades at him. His answer to Anna's persistent bullying is, "Can I get you more tea, dear?" Thacker needs a backbone, and fast.
Male or female, if you continually are disrespected in a real relationship and don't stick up for yourself the union won't last long. But we can fantasize in NOTTING HILL, can't we?
Reviewed by David Sunga
June 7, 1999
Copyright © 1999 by David Sunga
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