In London, England, there is an area called Notting Hill. A man named William Thacker is working in a travel bookshop there.

An American celebrity named Anna Scott walks in, and William develops feelings for her. But on his way back to his flat (apartment), he bumps orange juice all over Anna as he comes across her again. He takes her to his home to clean up that mess. He also has a flat mate (roommate) named Spike, who can be careless, naïve, and sloppy.

After Anna changes her shirt, William kisses her on the lips. Later, he runs into her again at the Ritz hotel. However, he is mistaken for a reporter and is brought into a special room. Deciding to go along with it, William claims that he writes for the Horse & Hound magazine.

He continues to have romantic, but somewhat awkward, moments with Anna. At some point, he finds out that his sister, Honey, is having a small birthday bash. Anna wants to join him as his date.

The two go to the house where the party is being held. Honey has a guy there who is cooking guinea fowl for dinner.

Anna meets some other connections with William. Everyone has fun that night. During dessert, the guests get to know each other more.

After the party, Anna and William walk across the street to a private neighborhood and climb over the gate. Then they make out again.

The next evening, Anna and William are out at dinner. They overhear a bunch of men making fun of Anna. William goes over and tells them that he doesn’t like that. But Anna is chill and states that William can be sensitive.

William and Anna then go to Anna’s hotel room—only for her American boyfriend, Jeff, to be there, too. He and Anna make love.

Poor William is heartbroken because he thought that he had a chance with her. His friends try to help him find other women to date. But he still misses Anna.

Some time later, William sees her again. She says that she and Jeff broke up.

William discovers that he and Anna share a lot of the same interests. That night, they even do each other.

However, the next morning does not go well. There is a paparazzi crowd outside of William’s flat. They take pictures of Anna, William, and even Spike, while they are not completely dressed.

Anna gets mad at William. She blames him for the mess and leaves him. Once again, William is heartbroken.

Seasons go by. William is still sad and misses Anna. Eventually, he finds out that she is acting in a film being shot near him. So, he goes there to talk to her.

But because he showed up unannounced, he is denied entry to the set. He sees Anna, though. However, she asks him to wait until the filming is done before he can speak to her.

What will happen next?

I was surprised how engaging the film was. It was also very funny. I laughed a lot throughout it.

An example would be when Spike was asking William for different first date outfits. They were all raunchy.

Another moment was when a guy walked into the bookstore William worked at and asked for different fictional books, such as Winnie-the-Pooh. But the shop only sold travel books.

The characters were likable and well-developed—well, at least William, Anna, and Spike were.

William was calm, patient, and kind. So was Anna. There was really only one time where she lost her temper.

Spike was silly. During the paparazzi scene, he came outside in just his underwear and made strange poses. I kept saying, “put some clothes on.” At some point, William told him the same thing.

William’s friends, however, were less memorable and even less distinguishable. But they were all likable.

The romance between William and Anna was sweet. I adored how they admired and made time for each other.

Despite how the movie is around 2 hours long, the pacing was still quick. And the scenes changed at just the right times.

Overall, I enjoyed Notting Hill. It was a good movie with constant humor and beautiful romance.

I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars.