One amusing quip in two hours

Rating: 1/10 (19 November 2001)

It is not enough to populate a film with beautiful and talented actors; a good script is wanted above all. "Notting Hill" fails the script test.
I had tried once before to watch this movie, but had abandoned the attempt early on, when it became apparent that the female lead possessed neither cleverness nor goodness, nor indeed any virtue to speak of. I could see no basis for the hero's infatuation with a woman who did nothing but occupy space on the screen. But I forced myself to persevere in a second viewing for two reasons: 1) I'd recently heard an amusing quote (concerning actor Mel Gibson) from a later scene, so figured I might have given up on it before the good part started; and 2) I had not been much impressed with another Richard Curtis screenplay--"Bridget Jones's Diary"--on the first viewing, but had completely reversed my estimate after seeing it a second time--so perhaps "Notting Hill" was another such one.
Alas, the Mel Gibson crack was the only funny line in the entire flick. And aside from pretty faces and physiques, was there anything to be found in the protagonists to justify their interest in each other? The Julia Roberts character displayed nothing but beauty, stardom, and wealth, and appeared to exist in a gently-smiling vacuous state most of the time; in the one scene where she came alive, it was only to display an ungracious temper--quite a nasty piece of business really. The Hugh Grant character was marginally more sympathetic, but basically insipid.
The plot movement was slow and unconnected, with little sense of development.
Hugh Grant is of course past master at portraying the awkwardly shy Brit twit--give him credit there--but the writing was so shallow that no mere actor could have rescued it.
Don't bother with this one unless you're an MTV fan, i.e., you just like to pass time in front of a screen.
1/10