Notting Hill (film)
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- For places named "Notting Hill", see Notting Hill.
| Notting Hill | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Directed by | Roger Michell |
| Produced by | Duncan Kenworthy |
| Written by | Richard Curtis |
| Starring | Julia Roberts Hugh Grant |
| Music by | Trevor Jones |
| Cinematography | Michael Coulter |
| Editing by | Nick Moore |
| Distributed by | MCA-Universal PolyGram Filmed Entertainment |
| Release date(s) | May 13, 1999 |
| Running time | 124 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $42 Million (USD) |
| IMDb profile | |
Notting Hill is a 1999 romantic comedy film set in the Notting Hill district of London, England, UK.
The screenplay was written by Richard Curtis who had previously written Four Weddings and a Funeral. In addition to Curtis, actor Hugh Grant, producer Duncan Kenworthy and other film crew members are reunited in Notting Hill.
Contents |
[edit] Primary 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 the Thief
- Alec Baldwin as Jeff King (uncredited)
- Emma Chambers as Honey
- Tim McInnerny as Max
- Gina McKee as Bella
- Hugh Bonneville as Bernie
[edit] Plot
William Thacker (Hugh Grant) is the owner of an independent bookstore which specializes in travel writing in Notting Hill, London. Witty, cultivated and handsome, he has not coped well with his divorce and is currently sharing his house with an eccentric Welsh wannabe artist named Spike (Rhys Ifans).
Thacker encounters world famous Hollywood actress Anna Scott (Julia Roberts) during her trip to London when she enters his shop to buy a book. Shortly thereafter, they accidentally collide in the street, causing William to spill orange juice on both of them. He offers his house (just across the road) as a place for her to get changed. Anna accepts and they repair to his abode.
Right from the start, their love affair seems to be doomed. Although Anna feels at home with his circle of friends, William more and more realises that he is not cut out to be a famous actress's boyfriend. First, he is shocked when he finds out that she has an American boyfriend (played by Alec Baldwin), although Anna asserts that they have broken up. Some time later, after they spent the first night together at William's flat, careless talk by Spike down at the pub results in a throng of reporters at their doorstep trying to take their pictures. She leaves in a hurry, and William decides once and for all to forget her. However, over the months that follow, none of his friends' attempts to find him a girlfriend is successful.
Back in England to make a film, Anna Scott shows up at his bookshop once again, hoping to resume their love affair, but William turns her down. Only after he has rejected her, and she has gone again does William realize that he has just made the biggest mistake of his life. He and his friends search for Anna before she can leave for the United States, and in one of the final scenes, at a press conference, he persuades her to stay in England with him.
The film ends with their wedding and Anna's pregnancy.
[edit] Award nominations
- Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical
- Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actor - Comedy/Musical (Hugh Grant)
- Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actress - Comedy/Musical (Julia Roberts)
[edit] Quotes
- Anna Scott: (trying to win the last brownie with the "saddest life" story) "I've been on a diet every day since I was nineteen, which basically means I've been hungry for a decade. I've had a series of not nice boyfriends, one of whom hit me. Ah, and every time I get my heart broken, the newspapers splash it about as though it's entertainment. And it's taken two rather painful operations to get me looking like this."
Honey: "Really?"
Anna Scott: "Really (points to her chin and her nose). And, one day not long from now, my looks will go, they will discover that I can't act, and I will become some sad middle-aged woman who looks a bit like someone who was famous for a while." - Anna Scott: (referring to the Marc Chagall painting La Mariée [1] on William's wall) "Yes - Happiness isn't happiness without a violin-playing goat."
- Anna Scott: "Rita Hayworth used to say 'Men go to bed with Gilda, but they wake up with me.'"
William: "Who's Gilda?"
Anna Scott: "Her most famous role. Men went with the dream... they didn't like it when they woke up with reality" - Anna Scott: "The fame thing isn't really real, you know. And don't forget, I...I'm also just a girl...standing in front of a boy...asking him to love her."
- SCOTT OF PANTARTICA - Sun Headline after naked pictures of Anna Scott are found
- William: Oh sod a dog! I've made the wrong decision; haven't I?
- William: Oops-a-daisy!
- Anna Scott:(After kissing William at the doorway) Probably it is the best, not to tell anyone about this
William: "Oh, sure...I tell myself sometimes, but don't worry, I won't believe it."
[edit] Trivia
- One of the scenes contains a stained glass window with the portraits of Beavis and Butthead.
- Upon release the movie was heavily criticised by some for presenting an 'ethnically cleansed' vision of West London despite being set in one of London's most diverse and multicultural areas.
- The soundtrack of the movie features an Elvis Costello cover of the Charles Aznavour song "She" [2].
- Bernie asks Anna how much money she made on her last film in the scene where they're at Honey's birthday party. Anna replies that she made $15,000,000. Coincidentally that is the same amount Roberts made for this film.
- Because of the park's private nature, film companies are not supposed to shoot there. However, in this movie a famous actress is shown starring in a film called "Gramercy Park," which was also the name of the production company for Notting Hill.
[edit] External links
