Queen of fairy tales

Rating: Null/10 (20 July 2003)

I'm all for romance but a fairy tale is another thing altogether. Romance in the form of 'Notting Hill' is easy to swallow and even enjoyable but a prostitute who lives happily ever after (or so it seems) is just laughable. Julia Roberts didn't even act that well so her Oscar nomination was just a lottery win but then again, the Oscars are just a platform for movie stars trying to prove they can act. Richard Gere didn't look and act much different than he did in his other roles. Hector Elizondo, by far, was the life of the movie as the kindly hotel manager who swoops down to Julia Roberts' aid when she comes in crying at being humiliated in a chic boutique. If the point of this movie was to give the prostitutes some credibility, it failed terribly. Just that annoying scene in the movie proved it - we women need a credit card and a man in our hand to rescue us from certain sacrifice in the hands of an upmarket store. Possibly, a decently dressed woman who couldn't afford the clothes wouldn't receive such treatment but she did because she was a whore and looked like one. Yes, even people in such professions deserve to be happy but this movie is testing it a bit. They could do with a more original and believable story line.
This is fun date movie but don't overrate it too much. It doesn't deserve it.