Rating: 
Summary: A Romantic Comedy Classic
Review: The basic premise of this film is completely unbelievable, yet throughout the film I always believed the story. Why? The acting, casting, and settings are excellent. Hugh Grant is perfectly cast as the middle-of-the-road bookshop owner, with great friends and a routine normal life. Into his life pops Julia Roberts, also perfectly cast as the international movie star that falls for this ordinary guy after a chance meeting in his bookstore.The Notting Hill neighborhood is beautifully depicted, and the London setting is perfect. The true treasure of the film is Hugh's amazingly eccentric and odd roommate. His scenes are hilarious. The cast works so well together they seem to fit like a pair of old jeans. You will be laughing out loud at the "Horse and Hound" interviews. I recommend this movie, especially in DVD form, as it has an excellent soundtrack, and some great deleted scenes. To say this is a masterpiece is a bit of a stretch, but I have thoroughly enjoyed watching it several times. One of the best of the "romantic comedy" genre.
Rating: 
Summary: Witty romantic-comedy is good despite Roberts...
Review: I saw this movie for Hugh Grant. I thought it was funny, light-hearted, and a good feel-good love story for pretty much everybody. Heck, even Julia Roberts, who I loath with a passion, wasn't too bad. The plot is your standard modern-day fairy tale. Average Joe (or Hugh, in this case) meets big-name celebrity, hits it off with her, and soon falls in love. The plot is predictable, but original nonetheless. I really liked Will's (Hugh Grant) friends and family, who are all humorous in their own ways. I laughed out loud many times, especially at a scene in which Will is pretending to be a reporter for a magazine called "Horses and Hounds." When he asks the actress a question about horses in her film "Helix," she graciously reminds him the movie is set in space. The humor is very subtle and that's why it works so well. "Notting Hill" isn't a movie for everybody. If you're looking for a gunfight atop a speeding train while a stinger missile is headed right for the hero's head, you might want to miss this one. But if you're of the female gender, or a guy who wants to be fair to his date but entertained at the same time, "Notting Hill" just might be the film you're looking for. Unless your date wants to see a noseless giant slashing helpless high school cheerleaders with a machette. If that's the case, could I have her number? Just asking.
Rating: 
Summary: A different kind of love story
Review: It's kind of a movie that makes you wanna watch it over and over.
Rating:
Summary: Gentle Wit, Warmth, & Charm, Terrific Ensemble Cast
Review: My wife paid top dollar for this DVD when it was released, and I greeted it with contempt and dismay. I hadn't seen it, of course--but I had seen trailers promoting the corny contemporary inverted-gender Cinderella story in a tawdry attempt to cash in on the box-office appeal of stars Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts. Grudgingly agreeing to suffer through it for the sake of marital harmony, I soon discovered I'd been guilty again of contempt prior to investigation. Since then it has become one of my favorite movies. Perhaps even more surprisingly, it's become one of our teenaged boys' favorites as well, judging from the number of times they've seen it. NOTTING HILL is a superb example of a movie with high Replay Value. Despite seeing it a dozen or so times over the past few years--most recently last night at the request of a dinner guest--it never fails to entertain. Credit, of course, goes largely to the writer, Richard Curtis, a modern master of the Romantic Comedy genre (FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL, BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY, LOVE ACTUALLY), for infusing the script with gentle wit and charm. But the ensemble cast deserves equal praise for fleshing out Curtis's characters with so much warmth and decency that they become precisely the sort of people we enjoy spending time with. Tim McInnery, Gina McKee, Emma Chambers, Hugh Bonneville, James Dreyfus, and especially Rhys Ifans make this movie special, in much the same way that the terrific ensemble cast made FOUR WEDDINGS so enjoyable before. If you appreciate the warmth, wit, and maturity of movies such as IQ, NOBODY'S FOOL, and SENSE & SENSIBILITY, and require something more interesting than fiery explosions and flesh-eating zombies to feel entertained, then NOTTING HILL might be for you. Four stars for the overall quality of the film, plus one star more for its surprising high replay value.
Rating:
Summary: A Funny British/American Comedy
Review: I personally do not think that Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant are the absolute perfect on screen power couple. The movie however is sweet and will definately be remembered as a romantic comedy classic. The acting is good but like I said I just didn't buy the on screen chemistry. The story is a brilliant concept escpecially in today's society. The music is good and there is good ol' British comedy that gives the audience comic relief. This is a very good date movie and it is one of Julia's and Hugh's best films. I reccomend it.
Rating:
Summary: About a girl, asking a boy to love her.
Review: Hugh Grant's role as Travel Book Shop employee William Thacker reprises the same shy, humble, lovable, but lonely character with a small group of friends that made him a star in Four Weddings And A Funeral. That may be because Notting Hill, like FW&AF, was written by Richard Curtis. "And so it was another hopeless Wednesday when I walked a thousand yards to work, not suspecting that this was going to be the day my life would be changed forever." In two words, that catalyst is Anna Scott, currently one of Hollywood's biggest stars, who is promoting her latest film Helix, a sci-fi film whose costume design and one interior setting owes a nod to Kubrick's 2001. She happens in his bookshop, but that first meeting sets off a series of meetings where they spend time with each other. Eccentric barely describes Spike, his Welsh roommate with a shock of wild blond hair. Never have I seen a more comical opposites since Felix and Oscar of the Odd Couple. Spike is clearly the Oscar of the pair, but then again, I doubt if Oscar would have worn a T-shirt saying, "Get It Here", with an arrow pointing downwards, or unwittingly mistake mayonnaise for yogurt. In the course of meeting Anna, he in turn introduces her to his small group, including a married couple, Max and Belle, the latter in a wheelchair, a stockbroker named Bernie, and William's wild-looking sister Honey, whose bulging eyes and feathery hair makes her nevertheless lovable in a different sort of way. However, they live in two different worlds. As William puts it, "I live in Notting Hill, you live in Beverly Hills." Both have different schedules, lifestyles, and perspectives on things. Yet his inner smile lights up whenever she pops in and spends some time with him. And applying a metaphor used, Anna is a goddess. "You know what happens to mortals who get involved with the gods?" That's terrible for William, who confides in Spike that it's like "taking love heroin and I couldn't have it again. I've opened Pandora's Box and there's trouble inside." Anna is a typical box-office draw who has to put up with the tail side of the fame coin. The many boyfriends, the laying out of her private life in the tabloids, but also how she's unable to live an ordinary life and how she has to put up with unkind words, as when she overhears a group of businessmen saying how actresses are equal to prostitutes and that she is the definitive actress. Ouch! But despite the fame, in the end, she's "just a girl asking a boy to love her." The one pullback aerial shot that has the couple approaching the bench dedicated to a loved one, while Ronan Keating sings Keith Whitley's "When You Say Nothing At All" was a perfect combination of great camera work enhanced by a haunting love song. Hugh Grant has another winning role and seems to have the knack of starring opposite great female leads and being compatible. Be it Andie McDowell (Four Weddings) or Emma Thompson (Sense And Sensibility), he does himself and Julia Roberts great credit. After seeing this at the theatre when it first came out, I sighed with relief that I finally found the most charming movie with Julia Roberts since Pretty Woman. All the actors portraying Williams' small circle also lend great support, but Rhys Ifan steals the show as the outlandish Spike. Those who liked Four Weddings will definitely go for Notting Hill, which has a tad more sweetness, like apricot and honey.
Rating:
Summary: Pleasantly, not what I'd expected!
Review: Let me just say that I'm not particularly a Julia Roberts fan. So when my wife asked to go see Notting Hill in the theater, I politely declined... but I figured that I'd give her a suprise and buy the DVD for her. Well, I sat and watched it with her, and was pleasantly suprised, myself! Set in the real-life Notting Hill section of London, this VERY fairy-tale story is filled with moments of true belly-aching laughter, painful heartbreak, and one delightful "car chase." Julia Roberts portrays Anna Scott, a fifteen-million-dollar per picture movie actress who gets tangled in the trappings of love with William Thacker, a bumbling, but likeable book-shop owner convincingly played by Hugh Grant. Notting Hill wastes no time in setting up this premise and rockets off from there. The film moves along at a good pace and only has one noticible slow spot. The music chosen to accompany the film is beyond perfect. Watch the screen closely when you hear "Ain't No Sunshine" by Bill Withers. I would be remiss if I did not mention "Spike". Rhys Ifans plays Spike, William's very odd, very Welsh flat mate. You can't help but laugh every time he's on the screen. Luckily, the director and editor didn't over-do Spike's antics, so we can truly enjoy the moments when he's on. The Collector's Edition goodies make the DVD a true gem and a great bargain. The musical highlights let you quickly jump into the middle of the movie to enjoy a song while watching the movie roll. (After you've watched the movie, go find "Ain't No Sunshine"!) The deleted scenes give a glimpse of what could have happened in the film. After watching, I'd say that I agree with the director's choice of endings. This movie proves that romantic comedies can still be done well... and you don't have to have Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan to do it.
Rating: 
Summary: Well- at least this time she's in the right role
Review: I've been waiting forever for a critic or reviewer to expose Julia Roberts for what she is- a talentless, over-estimated, freak of nature--- but the culture is so heady with celebrity buzz that it will never happen. So I'll have to take matters into my own hands: Roberts has been getting away with simply playing variations of herself since the days of Mystic Pizza. Her same shrill laugh (it's a barking shout- look for it) can be heard in any one of those forgettable roles from Flatliners to the Pelican Brief, and the academy-award-winning Brokovich character was Roberts again, only this time dressed like a trailer park refugee and being a little more mad and sarcastic than she normally is. God help us- Pretty Woman was such a smash that we'll never be rid of her. Unfortunately, when not playing one of those personal variations, she's lost because she honestly can't act. Take a look at her poor attempt in Michael Collins and there you'll find someone out of their depth- not a difficult role, just not a variation of herself (am I getting redundant?)
Now- Nottinghill: according to a professional reviewer, the movie " . . . is hardly realistic . . . . True, Roberts doesn't really have to stretch very far to play a big-time actress who makes $15 million per movie . . ." Well, that nails it, doesn't it? For once, Roberts can be forgiven for being herself-because that's what the role calls for: a famous, over-paid, self-consumed, Hollywood celebrity. But as well-cast as Julia is here, even she can't resist going over the top on occasion, as in the scene where one of Grant's friends, who meets her for the first time, discovers she's an actress and comments that it's a tough occupation in which to make a living. Our girl enjoys her response entirely too much when he asks what she got paid for her last work---- then again--- I guess I can see her gloating in the same self-satisfied manner in real life, so perhaps it's appropriate. In contrast to this kind of affirmation, notice how Alec Baldwin's cameo portrayl of the male star counterpart later in the film is more tongue in cheek; Julia, on the other hand, is far too relaxed(and serious) playing the pompous, condescending star. Gee, it's her!
The script is witty at points, and the story is at times charming with some entertaining moments, but then the killer is the fairy tale ending. It just wouldn't have happened this way, no matter what we want to believe. If by some strange quirk, Roberts' character had actually married the one played by Hugh Grant, it would have been only as a passing diversion, and annulled 2 weeks later (any real life analogies?). Good performances by Grant and most of the supporting cast, and Roberts doing herself (there it is again), but it's not enough. Even though the film is not a disaster, it just doesn't work. Back to Roberts:
By the way, will someone also please finally admit that Julia Roberts is not attractive? With that mouth, she looks like she could consume a '56 Buick whole in one bite.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing Special
Review: A by-the-numbers romantic comedy, "Notting Hill" is however one of the most overrated movies of its genre. Sure, the lead stars (Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts) have some charisma, Roger Michell`s directing is smooth and subtle, the story has a couple of funny scenes and most of the (very british) cast delivers highly convincing performances. Still, this modern fairy tale about a love relationship between a movie star and an ordinary, middle class guy is not only unrealistic but also almost 100% predictable and unsurprising. The plot shows little original ideas, offering a set of cliches and "been there, done that" situations. "Notting Hill" is definitely a well made, professional product nonetheless, yet the overall result doesn`t rise above average and uninspired material, a rehash of old ideas and concepts. It`s an alright saturday-afternoon innofensive flick, providing a mildly entertaining cinematic experience that helps to pass the time. A competent Hollywood piece of fluff, but very far from a classic achievement. An ordinary feel-good movie.
Rating:
Summary: Great Acting
Review: I judge movies by how real the actors make the events on screen seem real. Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant did a great job with this movie. I actually felt like I was watching THE REAL THING! The filming, the cast, and the storyline are perfect; just the right touch of humor, the right touch of drama...great job by everyone around them, too! I'd have given it six stars, but that wasn't an option. Buy this movie! It's great. G.B.
www.therunninggirl.com
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