"I'm With Her" versus Notting Hill

[Steve M.]

I finally saw Notting Hill on video, four years after it was first screened in movie theaters, and although there are obvious parallels between the movie and "I'm With Her," the series seems to flow somewhat better. This is probably in part because Chris Henchy and Marco Pennette have the luxury of stretching out their ongoing story over time, but there are other distinctions. The initial meeting between Anna Scott (Julia Roberts) and William Thacker (Hugh Grant) seem rather awkward, and the chemistry between them seems to work only part of the time. Sometimes the relationship seems to progess rather stodgily, with more than a few false starts and spurts.

Overall, though, Notting Hill is a diverting, enjoyable movie. When the scenes between Roberts and Grant work, they work very well. William's roommate Spike - the movie's version of Stevie Hanson - is hilarious. And to be honest, Hugh Grant carries this movie virtually all by himself with his boyish charm and his aw-shucks manner. But you know what I thought was funny? Teri Polo plays a movie star more convincingly than Julia Roberts does, and Roberts is an actual movie star while Polo is nowhere nearly as famous. Can anyone explain that to me?

Marco Pennette pointed out that, in their conversations, Chris Henchy was able to top every scene in Notting Hill with a story about his own relationship with Brooke Shields. So maybe we shouldn't be surprised that "I'm With Her" works better in comparison.

I will say this about Notting Hill; it has the best car-racing scene involving a Peugeot station wagon I've ever seen!