Don’t worry. I can hear your groan. Let me explain.
I feel that in the interests of fairness, there needs to be a movie from each genre on this list. I don’t have this expectation for the Lists of Others, only my own. In this case, it’s the ‘ROM-COM’, or more properly, the romantic comedy. There is literally a river of these movies from which I could choose and there were a number of candidates, but I had to choose the one that spoke to me the most.
I think that Notting Hill was probably the most realistic portrayal of what it’s like to fall hopelessly in love when you don’t intend to I’ve ever seen on screen. I realize that, technically speaking, we never ‘intend’ to fall in love, however, it’s a different experience when it simply happens, rather than putting your self out there for it.
The characters in this movie are, simply put, completely unrealistic and the circumstances are even more unrealistic, but if you can pull yourself back from the ‘devices’ for a moment, there is a very sweet, simple love story hidden in this movie. Everything from Hugh Grant’s family’s realities to Julia Roberts’ esteem issues rings true to many a relationship I’ve encountered. Life isn’t simple. It’s messy, it’s gory, it’s heartbreaking and it’s hilarious. It’s just that none of us are a bookseller and a movie star trying to make a go of it, we’re regular people who can absolutely relate to the words:
“I’m also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.”
The only possible competition for this film on my list would have been “Love, Actually”, but as beautiful as it was, it was an exploration of the different types of love that exist in the world and that it’s important to notice them. Notting Hill, however, is a movie about the pain and obstacles involved in loving another person, and so, when you watch see it through those eyes. But you *should* watch.
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