UK /  Working Title - Polygram / 124 minutes / 1999 

Writer: Richard Curtis / Director: Roger Michell

Divorcee William Thacker (HUGH GRANT) runs an unprofitable bookshop in a trendy London area which attracts American movie star Anna Scott (JULIA ROBERTS) as a customer. Minutes later they collide in the street where William manages to cover her in orange juice. He invites her to his flat to clean up, and she impulsively kisses him before leaving. 

When his idle flatmate Spike (RHYS IFANS) fails to convey a message from Scott, Williams wonders if she has tried to contact him but days later, they finally arrange a date, but William is forced to pose as a journalist to meet her, and then picks up the pieces after the tabloids publish nude shots of Anna as a teenager, forcing her to seek refuge back at his flat. The next morning, the area is swamped with reporters - Anna accuses William of kiss-and-tell betrayal, and leaves. William must summon all his charm, ingenuity and patience if there is to be a happy ending?

Although its predecessor (Four Weddings And A Funeral)) was a more satisfying event, Notting Hill is
awesome in its calculated grab for the box office. Curtis' script is a litany of one-liners balanced by a commentary on the pressures of fame: "I've been on a diet since I was 19," complains the svelte Julia, aware of Hollywood's body fascism. Ironically, Rhys Ifans pays this no notice, spends all but one scene with a woodbine and workman's arse, and steals the film.

Grant's patrician charm is undeniable and the film went on to become the biggest British movie of all time with $300 million in global receipts. It sparked a boom in tourism and a charity auction featuring the
infamous blue door (formerly owned by Curtis, in his own flat) saw a bidding frenzy. Rhys Ifans' unwashed smalls went for £420 before being spirited back to Wales by an eager patriot! 

cast
JULIA ROBERTS as Anna Scott
HUGH GRANT as William Thacker
RICHARD McCABE as Tony
RHYS IFANS as Spike
JAMES DREYFUS as Martin
DYLAN MORAN as Rufus


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