NOTTING HILL - HD DVD review

There are two things that can make an enjoyable Julia Roberts film. The first is to star Hugh Grant against Roberts. I can't think of a single romantic comedy starring the lovable Grant that I did not like. The second thing to make a Julia Roberts film completely enjoyable is to add in an odd sidekick played by the unusually entertaining Rhys Ifans. You can have your Richard Gere. You can have your Brad Pitt. You can have Dermot Mulroney and Mel Gibson. If you want me to actually recommend a movie starring the toothy actress, you best cast Hugh Grant. Yes, I would have rather had Uma Thurman or Kate Winslet opposite of Grant, but "Notting Hill" is such an enjoyable romantic comedy that I don't mind Roberts portraying an actress akin to herself in this film. The moments between Grant and Ifans more than make up for Roberts' presence in this film.

Hugh Grant is Will Thacker. He is a bookstore owner in London's Notting Hill district. Thacker is a lovable buffoon in the mold that Grant masterfully portrays. He is divorced and uncertain of his lot in life. The closest relationship he has is his roommate Spike (Ifans), who doesn't believe in washing his laundry, sports around the flat in scuba gear and wears provocative t-shirts on first dates. One typical day, the biggest Hollywood star in the world, Ana Scott (Roberts) pays his shop a visit and the clumsy, yet handsome man spills juice on her clothing. Will invites Ana back to his flat to clean her shirt and in repayment for his kindness and out of nowhere, Ana gives Will an awkward kiss. This plants the roots for the film's eventual romantic involvement between the two, but not instantly.

Time passes and Will believes he may never hear from Ana again. His short minded roommate Spike fails to give him a message that Ana had left a message. Will nearly misses Ana, but tracks her down at an expensive hotel, where she is staying under a false name based upon a cartoon character. Ana invites Will to visit her at the hotel and he barges into a press conference, where he pretends to be a reporter for Horse and Hound magazine. The interview is awkward, but endears Ana towards Will even further. He is charismatic and charming in a boyish and innocent way. With the chemistry beginning to build between the two, Will invites Ana to the only thing that pops into his mind; his sister's birthday party.

Upon arriving at the sister's flat, Will's sister Honey (Emma Chambers) gushes all over Ana and proclaims to be her biggest fan and new best friend. Although all of Will's family are in shock at Anna Scott being among them, Ana enjoys herself and smoothly gets past numerous awkward moments, from her veterinarian ways to her superstardom. After this first evening out, Will and Ana begin a short term relationship that moves swiftly and powerfully, but abruptly ends when Ana invites Will to her hotel and her boyfriend Jeff (Alec Baldwin). This breaks Will's heart, but he pretends to be a room service servant to avoid confrontation and leaves Ana alone to return to America with her famous actor boyfriend.

The relationship is not over and Ana returns to London and seeks out Will. She proclaims that under her fame and fortune, she is simply a girl in love with a boy and asks Will for a second chance with her. Will realizes that he cannot match up to her lifestyle and her jet setting and busy schedule will only result in heartbreak. He turns her down and leaves her leave his shop with heartbreak of her own. Spike calls him a wanker for his actions and his family lets him know that he has made a grave mistake and that he should track down the lovely American actress and profess his love to her and do what he can to make their romance work. A frenzied street chase with more entertaining Spike moments results and Will poses as a reporter during a press conference and gets his chance to win over Ana.

As much as I tend to avoid Julia Roberts' films, I've always enjoyed "Notting Hill" and consider it among my favorite romantic comedies. Part of the allure of this film is my appreciation for Hugh Grant's brand of comedy. Back in the Mirimax days, Grant entertained me with a number of funny and delightful films. "Sirens," "Four Weddings and a Funeral," "The Englishman Who Went Up A Hill But Came Down A Mountain" and "Sense in Sensibility" were films that led me to have a desire to see "Notting Hill." There is just something about his mannerisms and clumsy charisma that has placed Grant at the top of my list of favorite male leads in a romantic comedy. "Notting Hill" is an American effort and a big Hollywood film and one of the rare Hollywood efforts that did not try to change the formula that makes Hugh successful. After this film and aside from "Mickey Blue Eyes" and "Small Time Crooks," Hollywood has never figured out how to effectively use the veteran British actor.

Another actor I thoroughly enjoyed in "Notting Hill" was that of Spike and the credit for this character is wholly deserved by actor Rhys Ifans. The Welsh actor has not been in many big films, but he is an entertaining character actor that was perfectly cast for "Notting Hill." I've always found it disappointing that Hollywood has not tapped deeper into Ifans talent and he has only had bit parts in roughly a dozen smaller films. "Little Nicky" with Adam Sandler, "Vanity Fair" and "Hannibal Rising" are a few other films that have been fortunate enough to have Ifans involvement. Roberts herself is just fine in the film. She is asked to portray the biggest female star in Hollywood. This isn't a stretch of any sort for the actress. After all, she was one of the biggest female stars in Hollywood, if not the biggest. Her slick and serious nature in the film contrasted perfectly with Hugh's dimwitted charm.

"Notting Hill" is a fun film and a quality romantic comedy. I will very rarely give props to a Julia Roberts film. I recently had the pleasure of reviewing her "Erin Brokovich" and recommended that film as well. I feel almost hypocritical in my stance after spending years expressing my displeasure for her involvement in many pictures. She works well in this film and it is impossible to say she doesn't do a good job portraying a role that could very well be based on her own life. The reason to watch this film is Hugh Grant and the supporting performance of Rhys Ifans. This is a very funny film that has some of the comedic value of the earlier Mirimax films starring Hugh Grant, but contains that high budget Hollywood polish that those films lacked. If I was asked tomorrow to sit down with a pretty girl and put a romantic comedy into my HD-DVD player, "Notting Hill" would be my choice.

Video:
"Notting Hill" is not a film you would typically sit down to watch for visual splendor. It, like most comedies, does not contain a lot of scenes with anything overly impressive to look at. However, Universal's HD-DVD transfer of "Notting Hill" is quite good and the 2.35:1 widescreen film looks mighty spiffy with the VC-1 codec. The locale of Notting Hill is visually pleasing enough and I always enjoy the sights of London. Thankfully, the HD-DVD is detailed and colorful. Colors nearly leap from each frame. Blues, greens and reds are all impressive and rich in their saturation. The disc does not look overly processed as many more recent films do that have this much color. It is still quite film-like in its presentation and backed up with strong levels of detail. The various clothing textures and the numerous books in William Thacker's bookstore look great. I won't call this the most detailed picture. It does get a little soft at times and never approaches the visual brilliance of films such as "Hot Fuzz," but it still looks quite good. Some minor shimmering did pop up in the film and a minor amount of edge enhancement is present. Regardless of these minor flaws, "Notting Hill" looks great on HD-DVD.

Sound:
Universal threw HD-DVD supporters a nice bone with a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack on "Notting Hill." The high quality soundtrack is accompanied by an English Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 soundtrack and a lesser French Dolby Digital Plus 2.0 mix. The TrueHD mix is an improvement over the Dolby Digital mix, but this is not as impressive as the recent "Dawn of the Dead" mix I had reviewed earlier. Part of the reason the TrueHD mix for "Notting Hill" is not as impressive as other tracks of the same format is the sound design of the title. Let's face it, comedies are not sonically brilliant and "Notting Hill" is no exception. This is a comedy that is dialogue based and does feature some ambient and environmental effects, but it doesn't lack any punch that makes the soundtrack sound exciting. Dialogue is done rather nicely and even Hugh and Rhys' accents are easily discernable through the entire picture. Trevor Jones soundtrack is warm and nicely done. With the rear surrounds not having much presence, the front channels are asked to do all the work. Sound moves nicely across all channels, but the lack of an enveloping experience is disappointing for a TrueHD mix. Blame it entirely on sound design and not technical achievement.

Extras:
"Notting Hill" on HD-DVD features all of the supplements from the older "Collector's Edition" DVD release. First up, the Feature Commentary with Director Roger Mitchell, Producer Duncan Kenworthy and Writer Richard Curtis is a nice little commentary track featuring three individuals from the production of the film. The three interact nicely throughout the track and take turns sharing anecdotes from their experiences and supply a nice array of information related to its production and working with Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant. I have to admit that I only spot-checked this commentary, but the half hour or so that I did listen to was interesting enough that I spent about fifteen minutes longer on the track than I had expected to. I recall listening to the track years ago and enjoying it.

The Spotlight on Location (14:47) is the polished promotional bit that we've seen dozens of times for various films. These promotional vignettes don't ever delve too deeply into details and this is a prime example of shiny, happy talking heads promoting the film they just finished. Good, but too promotional in nature to be truly worthwhile. The Seasonal Walk on Portobello Rd. (3:29) finds Writer Richard Curtis introducing his home of Notting Hill and Hugh Grant giving an all-too-short tour of the filming locale. This should have been longer. The Deleted Scenes (12:21) are lumped together in one collection and finds more character fleshing with Will and Ana. There were more juicy bits with Spike and these were among my favorite moments on the extras.

The supplements get a little shorter and shallower. A Photo Montage (4:45) finds pictures from the production set to music. Not bad as far as photo galleries go, but hardly something to get excited over. The US Trailer and International Trailer show how the film was marketed in different parts of the world. Hugh Grant's Movie Tips (4:16) is another all-too-short moment with Hugh Grant. He is funny and entertaining and this was one of the shining moments of the extras. Grant's parents visit him and his likeability is enforced after this short. Two musical videos are included, the Elvis Costello "She" Music Video and the Shania Twain "You've Got a Way" Music Video. Finally, the Travel Book interactive feature allows you to use your remote and look at pictures and maps of Notting Hill. This was cute and different. Strangely, the packaging lists the Music Highlights from the DVD set, but I couldn't find it on the HD-DVD title.

Closing Comments:
I'm going to admit it. I enjoy a Julia Roberts' movie and have one placed on one of my "Best of" lists. The list is for Romantic Comedies and this Hugh Grant film is perhaps my favorite romantic comedy. This may contradict things I've said in past reviews, but I get a mind block when it comes to Ms. Roberts and feel it is okay to renege on something I previously said. I'll just consider this a love story between William and Spike and throw a Hail Mary next time I play some backyard quarterback. Regardless of my views of Julia Roberts, this is a very good romantic comedy and an enjoyable evening. Part of the allure of this title is the contrasting personas between Roberts and Grant and the chemistry they share on-screen. It's just a good time. The HD-DVD features very strong visuals and a decent, yet unspectacular TrueHD soundtrack. The supplements are numerous and have been carried over from the older DVD release. They are still nice here on a revisit. I'll say it again here for closure, this is a Julia Roberts movie and I like it.