Review of Notting Hill (1999) by Spangle — 12 Oct 2016

Notting Hill is a cute and charming late 1990s romantic comedy about a man, William Thacker (Hugh Grant), who meets a girl, movie star Anna Scott (Julia Roberts). Painfully adorable at times, the film has some oddly audacious camera movement from a film of its type, while also being a terrific comedic romp. However, its romantic elements are spotty and wind up being the main weakness of this film from director Roger Michell.

Comedically, the writing is quintessential Richard Curtis. Sharp and witty, the comedy is not often overt, yet is almost always a winner. The comedy and the delivery from Hugh Grant had me in stitches many a time. This is the type of role where Grant truly shines as an actor, with Notting Hill being a sterling example of his main skillset: charmer with a quick British wit. The comedy here is intensely British from beginning to end, yet it manages to transcend cultural borders with nary a hitch.

The writing does slack in one area, however: the romance. Shockingly enough for a romantic film, the relationship and romance just did not work as well as expected. Though solid, it was far from expectations. Whilst together, the chemistry between Grant and Roberts is undeniable. The writing reflects this with truly magical sequences of them together that will charm the socks right off your feet with its cuteness. Blended with the aforementioned comedy, Notting Hill was on a good path with these scenes. Yet, its haste it smashing its two lovers together, lack of development of Anna Scott's character, and its resolution all leave a sour taste in your mouth. The end result is that the only conclusion about Anna the viewer can come to is that she is a **** Though Will is head-over-heels with her, we can never understand why. Yes, there is incredible chemistry and passion whilst together. Yet, she keeps dropping the ball and gives very little reason as to why he should try to make it work at all with her. This issue could have been avoided by showcasing her side of things more often and not rushing the romance. Instead, the film slams them together and expects it to work. Whilst it works when they are together, separate the two and things fall apart. The romance lacked justification and its emotion was spotty. By the end, you are convinced they should not be together, in spite of what the film should tell you: that they were meant for each other or some other cheesy reason. I am watching a romantic comedy. Give me cheese. Make me smile because something is so cute. This romance lacks that overall cuteness factor.

In spite of this, what won me over here is the camera work. Honestly, with the amount of tracking shots, one must wonder if Brian De Palma snuck on set and filmed some scenes in place of Roger Michell. This film loves its tracking shots, especially of Hugh Grant walking through Notting Hill. Another favorite of mine was him and Anna walking at night. This sequence in particular is the most romantic of the entire film and highlights the film's successes both with camera work (not just because of the tracking shot, the shot itself is quite good) and in crafting a romance. The best part of the scene with the duo walking, however, comes in the park. All of a sudden, a medium shot of them reading a park bench dedicated to a couple turns into a truly unique shot that I cannot say I have seen many times before. It is almost as if the camera is strapped to a balloon that was then allowed to float into the air. The end result is a truly striking aerial shot that really takes your breathe away. A final favorite comes with Hugh Grant walking through Notting Hill. Set solely to music, the camera tracks alongside Grant as seasons and time passes seamlessly. I typically hate when a film jumps ahead in time, but Notting Hill executes it so beautifully with a wide array of colors denoting the different seasons, that I have to mark this up sequence as a stroke of genius. Any film that wants to jump ahead in time should be taking notes from this sequence.

While the film is not as romantic as it could be, tremendous comedic efforts work to overcome the inadequacies of the romance. Plus, a film with this many lovely shots and interesting camera movements cannot be written off too quickly.