Notting Hill
A 1999 Romantic Comedy starring Julia Roberts as staggeringly successful movie star Anna Scott who meets travel bookstore owner William Thacker (Hugh Grant) in the eponymous area of London and begins a somewhat rocky relationship with him. They want to be together, but her mega-stardom is constantly intruding on their happiness. Along the way to love, there’s plenty of quirk and British accents to add a little fun and flavor.
The movie is notable for taking several shots at show business, in particular how the movie business treats female stars.
Tropes used in Notting Hill include:
- Babies Ever After: Implied in the ending shot.
- Book Ends: The movie starts with a montage of Anna on the red carpet and ends the movie with the same.
- Bookworm: William is this to an extent. He owns a travel bookstore and he also suggests that Anna do a movie adaptation of a Henry James novel. Which she does.
- Breathless Non-Sequitur: "I'm sure you meant no harm, and I'm sure it was all just friendly banter and I'm sure you all have dicks the size of peanuts. Enjoy your meal the tuna's really good."
- Caustic Critic: Pajiba listed the movie's most famous line as one of the cheesiest movie lines ever written.
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"I'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her." |
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Anna: You know the fame isn't real. |
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- Chick Flick: With a distinct 90s feel no less.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Oh, Spike. Honey is this to an extent as well, but Spike just takes the cake.
- Crash Into Hello: William and Anna met when she bought a book at his store, but they literally run into each other later that day in the street and he spills orange juice all over her.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Anna.
- Disabled Love Interest: Bella, Max's wife.
- The Ditz: Spike.
- Fun T-Shirt: Spike has a few including "You are the most beautiful woman in the world... fancy a fuck?"
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Spike and Honey.
- Informed Ability: Subverted. Anna is the most popular actress working in the Hollywood of the movie and while we never see her act very much, Anna herself claims that she's not very good.
- I Was Young and Needed the Money: Anna took some pictures in her younger days that she very much regrets.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Spike.
- Lap Pillow
- Misery Poker: After a dinner during which Anna meets all of William's friends, everyone in attendance competes for the last brownie by detailing the various ways in which they themselves are the saddest person at the table.
- Monochrome Casting: Aside two of Anna's co-stars, there are no racial minorities to be seen. What makes this stand out is that Notting Hill in real life is known for its black community.
- Nice Guy: Hugh Grant. As well as his roommate Spike.
- Old Shame: How Anna feels about some risqué pictures of her. And possibly how she feels about her on-again/off-again movie-star boyfriend.
- Open the Door and See All the People: Spike with the press.
- Period Piece: Towards the end of the movie, Anna is seen working on an adaption of a Henry James novel.
- Pop Cultural Osmosis Failure:
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- Race For Your Love: William and his friends race around trying to find Anna before she leaves for America. Do they find in her time? Of course they do.
- Show Within a Show: We see bits of several of Anna's projects.
- Space Clothes: One of Anna's movies has her as a retro-space babe in a flattering astronaut suit.
- Stock British Phrases: It is set in England after all.
- Tabloid Melodrama: As might be expected for a movie-star, the tabloids swarm all over Anna throughout the movie.
- The Thing That Would Not Leave: Spike the "masturbating Welshman".
- Trailer Spoof: An excessively meta version; one trailer pretended to be for Austin Powers (itself well known for this device).
- What the Hell, Hero?: "You daft prick."