Nice Guy Finishes First

Rating: 8/10 (21 November 1999)

Notting Hill tries a few changes with the Romantic comedy formula which made things interesting. Interwoven with the romance are discussions about the pressures of fame, being a movie star and tabloid journalism. Then there is a role reversal. The woman is rich and powerful and the man is poor, acting almost like a saint. When does such a nice guy, well played by Hugh Grant, meet the girl? (Macho Alec Baldwin briefly shows up and frankly he would usually get Julia.) And Julia Roberts' character, half of the time I understood her problems and the rest of the time I thought she was a jerk. A difference from recent romantic comedies is that ending a relationship isn't just shaking hands and wishing each other luck.
Part of the reason why it all works is because this is set in England. Politeness is more common there. Also the odd ball supporting characters are different just because they are English. Sometimes they didn't feel that natural but then again I don't live in London.
There is some attempt to talk about our problems not being so important in the big scheme of things. I liked this but I got tired of Hugh Grant's character becoming a door mat after awhile. But then that gets straightened out too. My only complaint was that the ending (with too many close ups and songs) and its prediction of the future of our lovers, went on and on showing too much. A perfect ending is like As Good As It Gets where the couple finally kiss and go eat a pastry, leaving the rest to our imagination.
Despite that complaint, I really enjoyed this film. I rooted for the nice guy, Hugh Grant, and he finished first.