A 'nice' movie that's smarter than it looks

Rating: Null/10 (31 May 1999)

The worst thing about Notting Hill is its relentless predictability. Virtually every plot move can be seen a mile off, though that clearly is meant to be part of the fun. Oh, good, we think, here comes the scene in which William rejects Anna, followed inevitably by the scene in which his friends wise him up, followed by the pell-mell race across London to catch up with her . . . . And sure enough, there they all come. Of course, that is the way wish-fulfillment is supposed to work, and Anna Scott is that rare thing, a convincingly nice person, the detailing of whose character is the best thing in the script.
She is also, it occurred to me, systematically constructed as the opposite of British stereotypes of Americans, being reserved, self-deprecating, quiet, observant and cultured. That's important since Anglo-American relations are the film's most obvious subtext. He falls for her transatlantic wealth and glamour, she falls for a sense of community that is perhaps wishfully attributed to the English, along with an adoration of things American that has been largely scrubbed of the resentment which accompanies it in real life. While this is, no doubt, calculated to flatter the US market, it is nevertheless a relief to see a British film in which the Yanks are not bellowing boors. Anna actually owns the Chagall painting that plays an important part in the plot and can explain its significance; William only owns the poster.