Oh, sod a dog. I've made the wrong decision, haven't I?

Rating: 7/10 (20 May 2009)

Bookshop owner William Thacker's (Hugh Grant) life is turned upside down when Hollywood star Anna Scott (Julia Roberts) ventures into his shop.
By definition, Notting Hill is crowd pleasing fluff for the romantically inclined. Nothing wrong with that of course, chances are that if you have tuned in on TV or loaded this film on your player, you are fully expecting a fluffarama with lots of toothy smiles. Sure enough Notting Hill, written by Richard Curtis and directed by Roger Mitchell, delivers everything that the wish fulfilment plot synopsis suggests it will. And nicely providing a few laughs into the bargain as well.
That it stops short of being a top line rom-com falls at the feet of Curtis and his over egged script. The comedy is razor sharp and the romance is excellently fleshed from start to finish, but in his need to add drama via media intrusion and a "woe is me" life of the actress, Curtis comes dangerously close to fluffing his, well, fluff piece.
Still, it's a flaw that doesn't sink the film, because hey! We want feel-good and that's what we shall bloody well get! Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts take the lead roles of our mismatched (matched) coupling, and as it turns out it's a fine bit of casting. Roberts is not asked to do much other than smile and work well opposite Grant's wonderful foppish charm, while both actors benefit from an excellent supporting cast who rise above what in essence is a roll call of rallying around your mate mates!
Especially praise worthy is the efforts of Gina McKee and Tim McInnerny, whose sub-plot story could have been twee, but thanks to both of them it actually adds an emotional pull rather than being a shoehorned hindrance. Cringe comedy comes courtesy of Rhys Ifans (owning every scene he is in) and James Dreyfus adds extra light relief as William's assistant at the shop, Martin.
There's no Wet Wet Wet theme tune to outstay its welcome, and Roberts says her cringer line with far more oomph than that of Andie MacDowell. To which all told it makes Notting Hill no masterpiece in a much loved genre, but crucially it is however a delightful frothy film that hopefully makes you smile as much as it does yours truly. 7/10