I finally got around to seeing Notting Hill and I have to
confess that I loved it. Am I a silly romantic or what? It's just
such a relief to see a witty, reasonably intelligent movie where
even the grossest characters are likable. My biggest relief was
when Hugh Grant's sister's obnoxious familiarity with Julia
Roberts resolved into into simple corny-but-likable gushing. My
favorite scene was around the dinner table on the first date with
Julie Roberts trying to convince Grant's family that she was the
most pitiful of the bunch. And of course the screams from inside
just after she walked out were perfect.
The "break-ups" were a little too frequent and painful,
but the foreshadowing with the bench in the private park let us
know not to really worry.
Sure, there were a few things that could have been more
believable, and there needed to be a little more for Grant to
love than just her beauty and fame, but on balance it was a very
enjoyable movie. Three and a half stars. (How would you show that
in HTML?)
By the way - I'm not really a hopeless romantic; I loathed Titanic.
