Julia is pleasant; the movie is slow and we've already seen it

Rating: 4/10 (8 June 1999)

This movie is an attempt at a cross between Four Weddings and a Funeral and Pretty Woman -- and not just because of the overlapping cast members. Like Pretty Woman, it involves a potential relationship across a big cultural (and economic) divide. Like Four Weddings, we see the beautiful American who comes to Britain, meets the same good looking guy, leaves, returns, leaves, returns, leaves, returns . . . .
Unfortunately, Notting Hill doesn't live up to the standards set by either of those movies. Although neither was brilliant cinema, I enjoyed both of them immensely. Notting Hill, in contrast, mainly just bugged me. For one thing, it's much too slow; half an hour could have been cut. Second, I didn't care much about these characters. Maybe that's because of a third problem -- this movie was so much like Four Weddings that I felt I had already seen it. And it wasn't just Roberts and Grant that I didn't care about. The supporting cast members, although occasionally mildly amusing, were mainly just silly. The Four Weddings supporting characters were much funnier, much more real, and much more talented.
I'm not saying Notting Hill was terrible. I just think it was a mediocre movie that I could happily have skipped. Of course, then I would have missed Roberts who, at least by the end of the movie, showed some of the radiance and charm we too rarely see.