Julia Roberts,
over the years of her acting career, has been in some of the best love stories.
Notting Hill is one of them. The screenplay/script is soft, lovely, smooth
sailing, and hits all the right spots with its comedy. This Rom-Com doesn’t
come off as cheesy but carves out a place of its own in the world of Rom-Coms
that will forever be classics. Seeing it again in 2020, the movie still holds
up, and the comedy is still light and beautiful.
Notting Hill is
every young man’s fantasy—falling in love with a beautiful movie star and
having her love you back. I like the way the movie doesn’t make Julia Roberts'
character, Anna, perfect. She was not flawless, nor was she an over-the-top
diva. Similarly, Hugh Grant's character, Will, wasn’t perfect either—he had his
quirks too.
The plot has
Anna, a popular film actress, walk into a bookstore owned by divorcee Will in
Notting Hill. Their first meeting wasn’t spectacular, and when Will
accidentally spills a drink on Anna, she follows him home to get cleaned up
(his home was nearby). She impulsively kisses him, then asks him to meet her at
her hotel. There, Will is mistaken for the press and ends up having to
interview her, which is funny. It’s at this point they agree to go out, as Anna
asks to be Will’s date to his sister's birthday. Will’s family is blown away by
meeting Anna for the first time and learning that she is a popular actress.
Their secret
relationship soon becomes known to the press, and Anna freaks out. Her behavior
toward Will at that time was totally uncalled for, putting them in an awkward
situation, leaving us as viewers wondering how they will patch things up.
I have to give
the director credit for bringing this amazing screenplay to life in the most
well-crafted way. But the majority of the credit should go to the man who wrote
the amazing script—Richard Curtis. He is the BAFTA- and Oscar-nominated
screenwriter of the Rom-Com Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), which also
starred Grant as the leading man. He also wrote Mr. Bean (1997), Bridget
Jones's Diary (2001), and its 2004 sequel The Edge of Reason. I can’t forget
his directorial debut in the 2003 movie Love Actually, which he also penned.
Not to forget
the musical score and movie soundtrack, Notting Hill has one of the coolest
soundtrack albums you could buy.
Like a lot of
Curtis's Rom-Coms, this movie was a box office success. It’s seen by critics
and audiences as a masterpiece, and you’ll enjoy watching it anytime. The film
received three Golden Globe nominations for Best Motion Picture, Best Actor for
Grant, and Best Actress for Roberts.
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