JUNE 7, 1999: 

NOTTING HILL. A glorified made-for-TV movie, Nodding-off Hill employs a mind-numbing pace and uncomfortable story-stretching conventions. For more than two hours, the simple premise of ordinary guy William (Hugh Grant) falling for very beautiful and very famous movie star Anna (Julia Roberts) is painstakingly told through a series of contrived scenes and an abundance of ridiculous montage sequences where songs are substituted for actual character development. For example, "Ain't No Sunshine" plays while William (sad? confused? hungry?) deals with Anna's absence over a year's time. The result is a lack of chemistry between the leads and a sense that William falls in love merely because Anna is pretty, and ends up in more scenes with him than anyone else. It's a welcome change that Rotting Hell is told largely from a male perspective, as William pines for the self-involved Anna. Further adding to this genre piece is the continuance of Roberts' persona, from My Best Friend's Wedding, of the romantic comedy anti-heroine who rejects stereotypically feminine characteristics for more masculine ones. Eventually, though, the tacked-on "happy" ending forces both William and Anna into traditional and dissatisfying roles.--Polly Higgins

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