Perfect for a rainy day

Rating: Null/10 (7 March 2004)

I didn't like this film the first time I saw it. However, watching it again and again changed my point of view. As William Thacker, Hugh Grant plays an owner of a travel bookshop in Notting Hill, London, who doesn't run his business particularly successfully. One day, the best-loved American movie star Anna Scott (Julia Roberts) walks into his shop and buys a book. Later on, they run into each other, this time William accidentally spills orange juice on Anna's top. William asks her to get changed in his flat...
But under the pressure from media, their love affair cannot last long, especially when William finds out that Anna has a somewhat estranged boyfriend (Alec Baldwin), which totally breaks his heart. Now they part. Seasons change, but William still can't forget Anna. In the end, Anna returns, and asks William to give her a second chance...
This is a gentle-paced romantic comedy which is full of tender love and sweet surprises. There are more than one love story in this flick- the love of Max (Tim McInnerny) and Bella (Gina McKee), the love of Spike ( William's flat mate, played by Rhys Ifans) and Honey (William's kid sister, played by Emma Chambers)...Rhys Ifans is impressive as the eccentric and yet creative and hilarious Spike, unlike the roles he usually plays, which is a delight. Sit back and relax, enjoy these tender love stories. The changing seasons at Portobello Market and the Notting Hill area are somewhat idolised (I had been in Notting Hill for three months), but who can say, despite all the chaos in London, that the city itself is not beatiful in some way? 6.5/10