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Notting Hill
***
Cinema
Releases - May 28, 1999
Rated on a 4-star
scale. USA. Written and directed by Stephen Sommers; from a story by Lloyd
Fonvielle, Kevin Jarre and Stephen Sommers; based upon the 1932 film "The
Mummy", written by John Balderston, from a story by Richard Schayer and Nina
Wilcox Putnam. Starring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Kevin
J. O'Connor, Arnold Vosloo, Jonathan Hyde, Oded Fehr, Omid
Djalili.
When the important point about a film's main character
is that he's an ordinary man in the street, it could be distracting to cast
a superstar in the role. That's what we get in "Notting Hill",
with Hugh Grant playing William Thacker, a bookstore owner in the Notting
Hill area of London. Fortunately, Grant has the talent to make us believe
him, and the charm to make us want to. A film like "Notting Hill" is all
about charm -- a romantic comedy from the makers of "Four Weddings and a
Funeral", we don't see it for a dense plot of sinister twists and
turns.
Julia Roberts co-stars with Grant, as a character
not unlike herself -- beautiful superstar actress Anna Scott -- loved by
the Academy, ogled by men, hounded by the tabloids. In London to promote
her sci-fi movie "Helix", Miss Scott wanders into Mister Thacker's travel-book
shop and is impressed at how he isn't star-struck. When she runs into him
again later, and he spills orange juice on her, she finds herself cleaning
her shirt in his house, where they talk, she's charmed by his shy, jittery
manner, and... well, if you can't guess the rest, you're reading the wrong
critic.
Roberts seems genuine and heartfelt in her role.
Anna's celebrity is intelligently dealt with, rather than just a feature
to provide contrast with William. There are perceptive moments about paparazzi,
media junkets, film sets, how superstars feel about their lives and what
factors they need to consider when having a relationship. And they're effectively
woven into the story, used to feed the characters their problems -- a good
source, as opposed to the Hack Screenwriter's Handbook of Romance Movie
Clichés.
Not that writer Richard Curtis is a hack -- he
penned "Four Weddings", and episodes of "Black Adder" and "Not the Nine O'Clock
News" -- but he could have got away with the work of a hack for this big-budget
Universal Pictures production. The script he has delivered is truly great,
hitting on some fabulous comic ideas and refusing to let his fascinating
premise degenerate into formula. Yeah, we know how this'll all end up, but
at least we get an intelligently crafted journey.
I do have a few reservations about the film. Firstly,
although it shows plenty of London, it doesn't really make an effort to capture
it, and live up to the title "Notting Hill". Also, there are one or two odd
scenes which go at far too slow a pace. The main factor, however, that takes
this finished version of "Notting Hill" such a large peg down from greatness,
is how overbearing the music gets -- I'm sure, for example, it was playing
constantly throughout the first half-hour.
Still, most of the film works well, with everything
brought together, and on that basis I recommend it. Grant and Roberts generate
a surprising amount of that vital chemistry, and I loved the interaction
between Grant's circle of friends. The best member of this is Spike (Rhys
Ifans), the slob flatmate, who's much more entertaining than I'd normally
expect from The Outlandish Crowd-Pleasing Support Character. "Notting Hill"
could have been better, but as my colleague Scott Renshaw notes, we should
be pleased enough to see a star-vehicle romantic comedy which actually does
contain star quality, romance and comedy.
COPYRIGHT© 1999 Ian
Waldron-Mantgani
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