Frothy fairy tale romance

Rating: 7/10 (7 November 2005)

Impecunious London bookstore owner Hugh Grant lost for words when incognito film star Julia Roberts pops into his shop for a browse. This is the movies, so  despite the chasm between them  they fall in love. It's a path fraught with obstacles and misunderstandings, most of them comic. Richard Curtis' canny follow up to Four Weddings is in no way a sequel though it is very similar  a sentimental fairy-tale romance that's all froth and no body. Nonetheless, it's diverting entertainment and the sheer class of the stars seems to lend it substance, certainly as the story unfolds (which is basically Roman Holiday for the 1990s, with better jokes and a happier ending). Grant's patented stuttering diffidence is thrown into sharp relief by Roberts' easy radiance. She's already proved a dab hand at self-effacing comedy and she brings a scary conviction to her tantrum scenes here. Grant's gaggle of friends are a less impressive bunch, though Rhys Ifans has fun as his disgusting flatmate Spike.