Grant / Roberts Click.

Rating: 8/10 (15 June 2015)

Notting Hill (1999): Dir: Roger Mitchell / Cast: Hugh Grant, Julia Roberts, Hugh Bonneville, Rhys Ifans, Emma Chambers: Romantic comedy with fairytale realism. Observant sketch of a celebrity desperately seeking solitude and love. Julia Roberts plays an actress who is involved in a film in London, and she encounters Hugh Grant when she enters his bookstore. After an accident involving orange juice, Grant offers his home for her to clean up thus begins predictable circumstances chalk full of clichés. Director Roger Mitchell delivers insight on the price of fame and the strive for normality. Part of his success is his fairy tale delivery on the place of Notting Hill combining it with the realities of celebrity lifestyles and that of those observing from the outside as Grant does here. Roberts is strong as an actress struggling with a high price lifestyle, while Grant feels guilty due to her fame yet he really does love her. They counter formula with wit and charm making their roles likable. Supporting roles are the usual band of distracting props with actors like Hugh Bonneville and Rhys Ifans making appearances that amount to nothing. Emma Chambers plays Grant's sister and that is about the extent of her role. Strong emphasis on solitude and fame make up for its predictable structure. Guanine love celebrated as oppose to the fluff usually seen in movies. Score: 8 / 10