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Director: Roger Michell Screenplay: Richard Curtis Starring: Julia Roberts, Hugh Grant, Hugh Bonneville, Emma Chambers, James Dreyfus, Rhys Ifans, Tim McInnerny, Gina McKee, Richard McCabe, Alec Baldwin Running Time: 125 minutes Studio: Universal MPAA Rating: PG-13 |
Eighteen yards span the distance between William Thacker's (Hugh Grant) home and work life -- he operates a struggling travel book store in the fashionable West London suburb of Notting Hill -- and he speaks of spending his days and years there. Thousands of miles divide Notting Hill and Beverly Hills, yet the two worlds collide merrily in the charming Julia Roberts/Hugh Grant romantic comedy, Notting Hill.
Odd that Thacker's opening narration contains these measurements of time and distance, as though love or the human heart can be bound by numbers. In one scene, it also seems that Anna Scott (Julia Roberts) defines her success with numbers. One of Thacker's friends asks what she made on her last movie, saying that his actor friends complain about their starving artist status. "Fifteen million dollars," she answers, without batting an eye, and he responds with, "Well, that's all right, then. Good on ya." Anna enjoys the moment (he obviously doesn't know who she is), but thankfully doesn't define her entire being by her star status or salary. Her heart-felt "Fame isn't real," said to Thacker after a lot has passed between them, reveals more about how she's changed than many of the scenes leading up to the moment.
(A subtextual study of the story could demonstrate that those characters most successful in financial matters, work, etc., are also the ones most successful in love.)
But this review isn't meant to be a study of numbers as a motif in Notting Hill (for one reason, the thesis collapses under close scrutiny). Instead, we should be discussing the charm and wit of Richard Curtis' (Four Weddings and a Funeral) screenplay, the undeniable chemistry between the leads, Roberts' continued success with romantic comedy (last seen in My Best Friend's Wedding), the wonderfully quirky characters that people the script, the talented cast that brings them to life, and Roger Michell's sometimes poetic direction. The performances he draws from Roberts and Grant are genuine and heart-tugging. Roberts hasn't been this vulnerable, unsure, and volatile in a long time, and Grant has reigned in his trademark tic-and-stammer manner to give a performance of depth.
Some scenes stand on their own: Anna Scott staring quietly at William Thacker, not once, but twice (in his bookstore when they meet, at his apartment after the orange juice incident), the moment absent of dialogue, yet speaking volumes, as Anna sorts out her feelings; Thacker's walk through Portobello Road, the seasons passing around him as he strolls through six months of depression (to Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine," of all things); the crane shot in the private garden that at once distances us from the moment and sweeps us in; even the movie-within-the-movie that Anna is pushing at first (Helix) has a poetry all its own -- the scene we see is instantly recognizable as being Kubrick/2001 influenced. Notting Hill is so much more than just a collection of scenes, though. Thacker's extended family of friends is delightful -- its fun watching their reactions to Anna when they meet her. The love so evident between Max (Tim McInnerny) and Bella (Gina McKee - my newest crush) foreshadows the Anna/William relationship. Personally, a tear formed each time (twice) McInnery picks up McKee (her character is confined to a wheelchair).
