Notting Hill
Notting Hill is one of the ’absolute classics’. In fact, say that short phrase in a lilting Welsh accent and people will know that you’re quoting the film’s affable Spike, flatmate of Hugh Grant’s character, William Thacker. And it’s one of those films which, once you’ve seen it a few times, provides an extraordinary number of brilliant quotes.
Apart from the volume of sound-bites, there are a few factors which make this such a great film, the strength of the characters being one of the main ones. The characters played by Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts are not only great in their own right, but they also gel so well together that the burgeoning relationship between them seems very realistic, despite how unrealistic the storyline is (seriously Anna may as well been going to buy sofas from Grant’s character at the beginning of the movie). When the man who runs a tiny travel bookshop in London spills his orange juice down the top of America’s most famous movie star you might think it is setting the scene for one of those films which you have to take tongue in cheek, but that’s not the case. The wider cast, too, is filled with characters you can recognise from your own friends and acquaintances. There’s Thacker’s little sister, who is star struck by Anna Scott (Julia Roberts) but delightfully charming at the same time; she’s a slightly zany girl who works in a record store. And there’s Bernie, the unsuccessful stock broker - who ambles through his job, not entirely sure what he’s supposed to be doing, and is entirely grudging about it when he eventually gets fired. And of course Spike, who calls himself an artist, but seems to spend most of his time sitting around in an odd assortment of clothes, reading loot, and genuinely, but without great effect, trying to help Thacker when things with Anna aren’t working out too well.
This cast, plus a few other strong characters, create a brilliantly entertaining film, and even though you know that things will work out in the end, when they seem not to be going Thacker’s way, you find yourself really rooting for him. The film creates tension in the way that all good films do, even though this is just a romantic comedy!