"Ohmigosh,look here,I mean,er,er,......yes it's a Hugh Grant movie

Rating: 4/10 (29 November 2007)

Had Hugh Grant not existed we would have been forced to invent him if only to banish the whippet and Woodbine heroes forever to that strange land somewhere over the M25 where no filmmakers live. He was in the vanguard of the resuscitated middle classes who gleefully began filling our screens in such self - regarding fluff as "Four Weddings and a funeral" . In "Notting Hill" he plays a Trustafarian who falls in love with a huge Hollywood Star who is so well - known that he doesn't recognise her. He owns a book shop so he can appear to be clever(probably an Oxbridge man)and wear glasses without seeming girlie.His flatmate is played by Mr Rhys Ifans who is apparently Welsh and clearly believes he is giving one of the great comedy performances.The huge Hollywood star is played by Julia Roberts in not the most taxing role in her career. His friends,trendy and liberal to a person,are just the sort of tossers you'd run out of "The Ivy" to avoid. The Notting Hill they inhabit is unrecognisable to any real Londoner, being - as the former D.G. of the BBC coined the phrase - "Horribly white" and totally unlike the vibrant culture - mix of the real area. Come Carnival time,Hugh and his chums would hotfoot it to the South of France for the duration,but still consider themselves "street". Who watches stuff like this?Quite a few people apparently,presumably those fans of Miss Roberts who found "Pretty Woman" believable,or admirers of Mr Grant who find anything he does believable. After 2 hours I began to long for the likes of Arthur Seaton and Frank Machin to stagger vomiting along a poorly lit alleyway to the sound of yapping whippets.