Comedy of the year? No!

Rating: 1/10 (31 May 1999)

I've always had a problem with 'Romantic Comedies'. What this term usually means is that there is no plot, no jokes and that you will leave the cinema feeling nauseous. If that didn't scare me away then the names at the top of the poster definitely should have, Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant. But for some reason I saw it anyway, partly because of Rhys Ifans who was brilliant in Twin Town and secondly because it was free. My worst fears were confirmed, weak plot, predictable jokes and Hugh Grant playing his one character (bumbling, annoying, pathetic.)Rhys Ifans' character seemed to be tagged on as the comic relief (why does a 'comedy' need a comic relief?) and was underused. Julia Roberts was just dull and unconvincing. Also when will comedy writers learn that Middle Class people aren't interesting. They have responsible jobs, live in nice houses, drive 'reliable' cars, have dinner parties, go ski-ing, listen to Phil Collins & Celine Dion, drink wine and have children that are good at science. They are not good subjects for comedy. All the best sitcoms and films have been born out of squalor. Steptoe & Son, The Young Ones, Only Fools & Horses and even Father Ted are all based around the fact that the charcters haven't got two pound notes to rub together. Richard Curtis seems to have been seduced by the dark side of the comedy force, that of the affluent American sitcom. Where everyone is rich, clever and pretty and get into a series of "hilarious mishaps and misunderstandings". An air of pomposity can sometimes overcome the affluence problems sometimes (Basil Fawlty, Captain Mainwaring etc.) but Notting Hill doesn't have this either. All the characters seem apologetic for their own existence which just leads to more tedium. Overall a thoroughly over-rated and boring film. Little Voice was more touching and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrells was funnier. After watching this film I think you will be able to tell that it was Ben Elton who wrote the funny bits in Blackadder.