Startingly original, nicely familiar Romantic Comedy.

Rating: 9/10 (7 June 1999)

Unlike soft-focus confections like "You've Got Mail" (which was more about the love between a consumer and large corporations than Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan), Notting Hill has a bit of an edge to it which serves the movie well. Grant and Roberts get to zing each other with all sorts of wonderfully hilarious dialog before the inevitable happens, and the cast of supporting characters (including a wheelchair-bound first love and a sad-sack stockbroker) keep the movie grounded and the sap quotient to a minimum. Perhaps the most astonishing thing, however, is the camerawork. The director takes some chances -- jump cuts, one exceptional scene in which four seasons swirl around Grant's character as he walks down a London street -- that pay off big time. This is a movie that was basically presold. Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts are huge box-office draws, and the words 'romantic comedy' and Julia Roberts together are pure gold. It is refreshing, therefore, to find a well-written script, great performances from all involved, and some creative risk-taking.
All in all, an excellent romantic comedy, a great date movie, and if you're single like me, another great excuse to stare at the bottle of sleeping pills and wonder how many it would take.