World famous Actress falls for joe bloggs in the street

Rating: Null/10 (1 June 1999)

It's been a long time since I've seen a romantic comedy that was both romantic and funny. Notting hill scores on both fronts. The story is not the most original, in fact if you've seen the poster, you pretty much know what the film is about. There aren't any surprises there. But then again Notting hill doesn't pretend or even attempt to be anything it's not. It's escapism at it's most profound, pure fairy tale stuff. Is it fair to compare it to Four weddings? absolutely. The makers very obviously wanted to reenact the winning box office formula of the former and they did so quite effectively. I preferred Notting hill, but not because it's a better film, but because I got more laughs from it. Four weddings possessed a depth and character development that Notting hill lacks. This I fear was deliberate. More than likely a result of an appeal by the makers to U.S. audiences. All in all Notting hill is a delightful movie and even the most cynical movie goer would find it hard not to smile.