Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts in "Notting Hill."

MOVIE INFORMATION

With 10 as a must-see, Jack gives this film a: Stars: Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant Director: Roger Michell Rated: PG-13, with strong profanity and sexual innuendo Length: 123 minutes

ROCHESTERCRITIQUE

Having seen this film, how would you rate it? 10 5 9 4 8 3 7 2 6 1

By Jack Garner
Democrat and Chronicle

(May 28, 1999) -- In the new romantic comedy Notting Hill, Anna Scott is the most famous woman in the world -- a superstar actress whose face is on movie screens, magazine covers and billboards everywhere. Think Julia Roberts.

Funny about that. The star of this engaging film, and a key to its success, is the effervescent Roberts herself.

She and director Roger Michell are new elements in what is otherwise a reunion of the Four Weddings and a Funeral gang -- including its writer, producer and co-star, Hugh Grant.

The mission: to see whether lightning can strike twice. Though the new film isn't quite as electrifying, it might.

This time, romance entangles a Hollywood queen with an average bloke.

Once again, Grant plays an amiable, handsome bungler who's smitten by a glamorous American woman.

Once again, he's surrounded by an oddball ensemble of friends and family.

There the similarity ends.

Here Grant is William Thacker, the operator of a struggling travel bookstore in a cozy West London neighborhood called Notting Hill. One day, Anna walks into his shop and buys a book.

Once William accidentally spills orange juice on her designer T-shirt and then offers her his nearby flat as a place to clean up, the romance is off and running.

Or just off. Getting this unlikely couple together is like trying to align planets in different galaxies.

The prying horde of paparazzi doesn't help. Neither does the fanatic behavior of William's shocked and delighted circle of friends, the bizarre lunacy of his uncouth roommate, Spike (Rhys Ifans), and the sudden appearance of Anna's obnoxious old boyfriend, well played in an uncredited cameo by a disheveled Alec Baldwin.

The premise is delightful, the script clever. And the chemistry between the stars is first-rate -- a rarity in Hollywood since the heyday of Audrey Hepburn and another Grant, named Cary.

Roberts impresses because it's not as easy as you might think to play a role that closely parallels your own life. It's too tempting to slide into parody. Instead, Roberts creates a believable person who is similar to the public Roberts persona -- and yet a unique character in her own right. And Anna's behind-the-mask private moments are alternately funny and affecting.

That said, Notting Hill has a few problems.

Spike is such a disgusting lowlife that you never believe William would ever share a flat with him. Despite some funny moments, Spike's humor is often several steps down the evolutionary ladder from that of the rest of the film. He's also onscreen far too much.

Another character -- William's friend Tony, who runs a restaurant -- shows up early on, then disappears until the final 20 minutes of the film. He's clearly the victim of an editor's scissors in post-production.

Despite such obvious cuts, the film is still too long at more than two hours. Very few romantic comedies can sustain more than 100 or 110 minutes, and Notting Hill isn't one of them.

But whenever the film threatens to sag or get too silly, its stars reclaim center stage and our hearts. Thanks to Roberts and Grant, Notting Hill is a neighborhood worth visiting.