Not Richard Curtis' best movie but quite sweet

Rating: 6/10 (27 April 2015)

Hugh Grant, a man who has a fairly rubbish love life and owns one of the worst bookstores ever has a romance with a hugely famous film actress. Richard Curtis, ever the feel good rom com maestro, launches another sugar covered love story at us with this irresistible premise. Sure, it's ludicrous, but for many this will be just escapist as many of today's blockbusters. A perfectly cast Hugh Grant plays the bookstore owner, and an even more perfectly cast Julia Roberts plays the actress superstar. Together, they're a dynamite romantic couple, although the film around them lacks a bit. In stark contrast to the giddy laughs of Love Actually, the loopiness of About Time and smart, razor sharp wit of Curtis' crowning achievement Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill is a bit dead. It's not particularly funny with Curtis' jokes falling flatter than usual and the film drags itself out over 2 hours, which really wasn't necessary. It's more dull than other Working Title films and populated with many offensive British caricatures. Normally Curtis' eccentric, bumbling British middle class citizens are entertaining but here it's just a bit offensive and also not very funny.
NH has its many dips, but is made more enjoyable by its leads. Hugh Grant is very likable as the main character and while he's pretty much playing the same character he did in Four Weddings, he does it very well. In fact, possibly even better. Julia Roberts is the complete star of the show and she's aggressively likable as the Hollywood superstar actress, but more importantly she brings a vulnerable, insecure side of her character out too. Despite the lack of effective humour, the film is undeniably charming and the film is very uplifting and is also an original rom com. Emotionally, it more or less delivers for all of its characters and thankfully this time Curtis actually includes a bit of conflict in the story, something which is mostly absent from his other movies. It's not a great film and can be fairly dull at times, although to be fair it's possible Richard Curtis was aiming for a different tone. A decent rom com; not as fun as other Working Title films, lowered by a lack of laughs, irritating secondary characters and overlength, raised by a decent amount of emotion, good acting and decent direction.
6/10