Fall in love with Julia, for the first time

Rating: Null/10 (21 June 1999)

As my many ex-girlfriends will testify, on the surface "Notting Hill" does not appear to be my type of movie. Cars do not explode, female co-stars do not kiss and nobody says "Do I make you horny, baby?" in a British accent. In fact, I fully expected to be "notting off" within the first five minutes.
However, when I actually worked up the courage to hand over my free admission coupon at the box office, I was pleasantly surprised by what I found. Granted, this is no "BASEketball"--if you're looking for an in-depth exploration of human relationships, "Notting Hill" isn't your movie. But if you just want a pleasant little film that will make you smile, chuckle and feel warm fuzzies all over (or maybe that was just an allergic reaction to the upholstery), this is it.
What surprised me most was the sensitive, sweet (and watchable!) performance by Julia Roberts. After her array of sappy roles, I expected Julia to annoy the daylights out of me, but instead found myself won over by her sincerity. And as always, Hugh Grant was at once charming, funny and winsome.
I was amazed by how well Julia and Hugh worked together in a relief role (the original casting was to be myself and Leelee Sobieski, but evidently my salary demands were too much). Let's hope we see more of this fantastic pairing in the future.