"NOTTING HILL"

Notting Hill
It's become routine that I begin a review of a romantic comedy by saying that I dislike romantic comedies. I say that they're predictable and lame, but then I end up liking it more than I expected, and I give it a decent review. With "Notting Hill," it's different because I walked in with high expectations due to the early positive reviews... and as it turned out, I STILL liked it more than I expected.

Julia Roberts is on a roll. "My Best Friend's Wedding" was a smashing success, "The Conspiracy Theory" did well, and so did "Stepmom." Now there's "Notting Hill," which recently had the biggest opening ever for a romantic comedy. Not bad. Her next film is "Runaway Bride," which reteams her with "Pretty Woman" co-star, Richard Gere, as well as "Pretty Woman" director, Garry Marshall. Julia's doing well. Hugh Grant hasn't done as well, and the scandal with the hooker didn't help, but this movie should help him to gain some of the respectability that he recently lost. Also, he's got the highly-anticipated "Mickey Blue-Eyes" coming out soon.

I think that "Notting Hill" will appeal to a lotta guys because it's a sorta male fantasy to have a female celebrity you think is a hottie to have a thing for you. The whole concept intrigued me, and that's why I wanted to see the movie, but I didn't expect such great supporting characters. As a matter of fact, the supporting characters were often more fun to watch than Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts. From Grant's incredible slob of a roommate, to the married couple which included a woman on a wheelchair, the supporting characters were absolutely great to watch.

"Notting Hill" was directed by Roger Michell, and I'm not really sure what he did prior to this movie. Sorry. I ain't perfect. The script was written by Richard Curtis, the same guy who wrote "Bean" (a movie I really liked, though I don't know why) and "Four Weddings and a Funeral." I sensed a lota moments in "Notting Hill" that were similar to "Four Weddings and a Funeral," but that's not a bad thing.

"Notting Hill" is an intelligent movie that has some very funny moments... funny moments that alternate between high-brow and low-brow. It's well-acted, funny, and really goshdarn hard not to like. Though it may be a tad too long, it's a great date movie (even though I saw it alone... boo-hoo). I highly recommend you see "Notting Hill."

Scale of 1-10: 9

Wanna bitch to me about my review? Perhaps you wanna let me know that my reviews are the most accurate in existence (well, they ARE!). Either way, E-Mail me to gimmie your thoughts.
jjdark@aol.com

Back to Joey's Movie Reviews
HOME