Notting Hill

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⭐ 7/10

Do you think anyone for the rest of time will watch The Mandalorian and Grogu, and then Notting Hill, in the same day? I was wracking my brain for some thematic connections as if I was writing a high school English essay on the two, but no luck.

This movie is all about the chemistry of its two leads, and there is no denying it. Julia is steely and reserved, but when she smiles its light transcends the screen you are watching it on. And Hugh, good old Hugh with those baby-blues, what a charmer. I don't think he's conventionally attractive, but the bumbling brit with quips and that shy smile, I get the appeal. They are very well balanced in this movie, him as a nobody running a travel book store and her as the most famous actress alive.

They have a meet cute, a bunch of follow up encounters where she is hard to get to but he is persistent and charming and funny. I actually got quite a few laughs out of this movie. But that's where my praise for the movie will end. She is terrible! She shafts him not once, not twice, but thrice! And he is the most polite and kind and loving gentleman, completely hung up on her, but why again? Like, we are supposed to believe she is into him because he doesn't treat her like she's a celebrity, but at the end of the day does he want her just for his beauty? She leads him on, then spurns him, at one point having this crazy overreaction and blaming him for something he clearly didn't do. Precious Hugh is so loving, doting, I just don't understand this reaction at all.

I get why this is a classic, but like most romcoms the interactions and reactions just stretch beyond what I can believe. Rhys Ifans is great as the weird roommate, and I totally understand why Julia was a mega star. It didn't make me actively mad like Four Weddings and A Funeral or Father of the Bride, and their chemistry is completely watchable, engrossing even. As far as I'm concerned its one of the better rom-coms of that era based on those two factors alone.

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