trite romantic fable

Rating: 5/10 (26 July 1999)

"Notting Hill", the latest venture from the makers of "Four Weddings and a Funeral", lacks the charm and depth of the original film, which, in retrospect, stands as one of the top romantic films of the 1990's. "Weddings" soared on the basis of three essential elements: the sharp, offbeat wit of its screenplay, the likability of its subsidiary characters, and, most important, the emotional and psychological depth of the Hugh Grant character, who, in many ways, functions as the archetype of all those modern men caught between love for a good woman and the paralyzing fear of committment. "Notting Hill" unfortunately approaches romance from a far more conventional direction, settling for wish-fulfillment fantasy rather than a more acerbic reality. The trouble with "Notting Hill" begins, in fact, with its initial premise of the world's most beautiful movie star falling in love with a handsome but essentially average Joe bookseller in the Notting Hill section of London. By creating such an unlikely setup, the film loses the emotional connection with the audience so essential to the success of a romantic comedy. The contrivance at the movie's core makes it impossible for us to really identify with the principals and, thus, the movie devolves into little more than an exercise in play acting for the two leading characters. This is a shame because Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant are certainly two of the world's most attractive and likeable stars and this role obviously seems tailor made for Ms. Roberts who carries with her the built-in aura of all that goes into being a world famous media celebrity. Perhaps, the stars are let down by the film's screenplay, which seems strangely devoid of real imagination and wit and the pace of the direction, which often allows comic lines to fall flat. A scene, for instance, in which Grant, through a convoluted set of misunderstandings must interview other actors in Roberts' new movie, is deadly in its lack of comic freshness and timing. The same can be said of a poorly written dissertation on the comparisons between some food Roberts is eating and Mel Gibson's much-exposed derriere. Moreover, unlike in "Weddings", the secondary characters, who surround Grant and provide him with a running commentary of advice, come across as bland and witless and subtract rather than add spice to the central romantic proceedings. "Notting Hill" does provide a few scattered moments of genuine humor and charm (Grant's being forced to attend a movie wearing his prescription deep sea goggles is hilarious), but the film often relies, stereotypically, on sappy montage sequences accompanied by a song-filled soundtrack rather than incisive dialogue to achieve a romantic mood. "Notting Hill" simply does not ground its characters enough in reality to make us care.