A romantic comedy that really works

Rating: 8/10 (28 May 1999)

This movie is a kind of scrambled clone of Richard Curtis's other great romantic comedy, Four Weddings and a Funeral. The nice thing is that for Curtis this is apparently one of his specialties, like Robert B. Parker writing a detective book, rather than something he did because his last comedy-romance fared so well at the box office. He is not feeding off his last work; he is simply doing a variation on a favorite theme. Which is to say that while Notting Hill shares many elements with Four Weddings and a Funeral, this in no way diminishes either movie, and both are quite good.
In fact, of the two, I think I might prefer this one. Julia Roberts's star power exceeds Andie MacDowell's, and Roberts is given more time to develop her character, so the romance works better here than in Four Weddings.
The one rehash of the Four Weddings format that didn't work on any level was the attempt to find another rock and roll oldie to revamp for the soundtrack and turn into a big hit. In the attempt to find what would be for Notting Hill what Wet Wet Wet's version of "Love is All Around" was for Four Weddings, we are taken through a tiresome and intrusive series of oldies and covers of oldies, the best of which (though that's not saying much) is Elvis Costello's far too faithful cover of "She."