Making the Unbelievable Believable

Rating: 9/10 (25 December 2000)

It's a measure of how good this film is that it can take an unbelievable concept-a Hollywood star falls in love with a broke British bookstore owner whose wife has left him for a man who looks like Harrison Ford-and makes it believable.
Julia Roberts stars as a Hollywood star who has made a series of wrong romantic choices in her life. Part of the fun of watching "Notting Hill" is trying to determine whether Julia Roberts is or isn't playing Julia Roberts.
Hugh Grant plays the bookstore owner, who constantly has to swallow hurt with a smile on his face. Grant works hard at making his part look easy. The fine supporting cast is led by Rhys Ifans as Grant's catastrophe of a flat mate, and Gina McKee as a former love of Grant's character's, now confined to a wheelchair.
But what makes the movie is the wonderful dialog by Richard Curtis. His writing helped make Grant a star in "Four Weddings and a Funeral." Here he puts Grant on the A-list of actors.