Notting Hill

Cast: Julia Roberts, Hugh Grant, Hugh Bonneville, Emma Chambers, James Dreyfus, Rhys Ifans, Tim McInnerny, Gina McKee

Directed by: Roger Michell
 
Written by: Richard Curtis

This is another one of those romantic movies you might wanna call a little too sugary… but it still is among my favorites. And thats because it brings a fond smile to my face whenever I watch it. Plus I’m totally in love with Hugh Grant’s eyes and British accent and Julia Roberts’ smile. So here goes…

William Thacker (Hugh Grant) owns a bookstore that specializes in travel writing and is situated in Notting Hill. He isn’t coping too well with his recent divorce (in his exact words, his wife left him “for a man who looks exactly like Harrison Ford”) and is currently sharing his house with a Welsh wannabe artist named Spike (Rhys Ifans). One fine morning, world famous Hollywood actress Anna Scott (Julia Roberts) enters his shop to purchase a book during her trip to London. Thacker is amazed to see the actress in his small shop while being awed by her breathtaking beauty.

Shortly after this, the two collide in the street which causes William to spill his orange juice on both of them. He offers to take her to his house to change which is just across the road. She accepts and while leaving his home, Anna surprises him with a kiss and that marks the beginning of the mutual attraction.

Through a rather amusing turn of events and a twist of fate, William meets Anna again and this time ends up inviting her to his sister’s birthday party. There, at Max (Tim Mcinnerny) and Bella’s (Gina Mckee) house, Anna feels relaxed and comfortable with William’s circle of friends… quite unusual for her otherwise busy and surrounded-by-controversies life. The conversations that take place between all of them and the little “last brownie” game they play are really cute and are bound to make one smile.

They go on several more dates and one evening while returning from a restaurant, Anna invites William to her hotel, only to find her American boyfriend, Jeff (Alec Baldwin) already there. Anna apologizes while Jeff is away, but William is terribly hurt. When Jeff returns, William pretends to be the waiter and leaves.

Some time later Anna arrives at William’s doorstep, hoping for a place to stay, because she was totally stressed out by the current problems in her life. Her break-up with Jeff and some controversial pictures of hers bring printed. William offers her the much needed comfort and the couple bond again.

The next morning, William is stunned to see a large crowd of reporters at his doorstep. Spike had carelessly spoke of Anna’s whereabouts at the pub. Angry at him, as she thinks he betrayed her to gain fame, she leaves in a hurry and William and she part without even saying goodbye.

One year later, she returns to London for a movie and invites him to watch. He overhears her talking to the sound recording artist telling him that William is “just another guy”. Disappointed, William leaves. The next day, Anna comes to the book shop, hoping to resume the affair, and thats when Julia Roberts says one of the most famous dialogues of her career… “I’m just a girl, standing infront of a boy, asking him to love her..”. But William turns her down.

Afterwards, William consults his friends on his decision, and realizes that he’d made the biggest mistake of his life. Henceforth, he and his friends begin the search for Anna, in Max’s car across the streets of London, which is a rather funny sequence of events.

They reach Anna’s press conference before she’s due to leave London. William persuades her in a most romantic way to stay with him forever with an exchange of dialogues which ends with William asking in disguise of a press reporter.. “and what if he were to go down on one knee and beg you to stay with him forever, would you then, by any chance, reconsider your decision?”.

After looking at William to see if he was saying the truth and analyzing how much he wanted her to stay, Anna signals another reporter to re-ask his question which was, “how long would you be planning to stay in London now?”….. and Anna replies, looking into William’s eyes and giving her killing smile…… “Indefinitely..”.

One of the cutest, most romantic proposals ever… You’d love it more when you watch it!!