liable to give you tooth-ache.....

Rating: 7/10 (1 June 1999)

"Notting Hill" has an attractive leading couple, an interesting supporting cast, and more laughs than your average romantic comedy, but overall it makes "Four Weddings..." look like gritty social drama. Sweet, sweet, sweet. After a decent set-up, thought-provoking even, (how would YOU react if your friend brought a mega-movie-star along as a date to your dinner party?) at every juncture thereafter the film leaves all sense of reality behind and heads off on flights of fancies...... If you want to disengage your brain as the lights dim, and enter a fantasy world where movie stars and mortals meet, mix, and fall in love inside 10 minutes, then this is the film for you. If, however, you're hoping for some sort of realism, and any insights at all into relationships in the 90's, try somewhere else, sorry. Where you might expect to hear the sorts of conversations which might explain why Julia should fall in love with Hugh, you'll only get lingering views of beautiful faces and soft music....... .....And how come Hugh demonstrated that he lived on planet earth by recognising "Anna Scott" but somehow didn't know who Leonardo Dicaprio was?