Christmas In Notting Hill
“Football star, Graham Savoy, has always been too busy for love, but when he comes home to Notting Hill for Christmas, he changes his mind after meeting the one person who has no idea who he is.”
*As much as any Hallmark film can be spoiled, this contains spoilers. You were warned*
Hallmark don’t have much luck when it comes to filming in London. The weather looks miserable. but with Notting Hill (I used to live in nearby Holland Park) and a football theme, this should be a winner for me. Let’s see how it does.
Cute Couple (8/10)
They’re not Chiselled Guy and American Blonde but they look good together and it works for the most part.
It’s quite a good ensemble of supporting characters and they don’t get in the way too much beyond moving the plot along.
Course of True Love (6/10)
The course of true love NEVER runs smooth. There’s not a huge amount of peril but minor sparks fly in the course of their romance.
Spirit of Christmas (8/10)
Tree decorating, a Christmas fair, secret Santa and some hilariously fake snow give this a decent haul of points.
Business / Career Dilemma (6/10)
Is his career going to be ended by injury? Is she going to travel the world or return home to Indiana? It drives the plot but not much more. Aren’t there any bakeries to be saved this season?
Cheese Factor (7/10)
There’s some corny moments e.g. the obligatory tourist trip round London but, apart from the end scene, it’s not that cheesy. Edam, I’d say.
Christmas In Notting Hill (35/50)
It’s a similar score to a number of other films, and no ‘Notting Hill’ - the movie. Knowing the locations, it’s always amusing when someone says ‘my house’ is 5 minutes away when it’s 30 mins away but the Notting Hill element seems to die out about half way through. You always get the suspicion that it was more about marketing than any solid sense of place.
I’d have love to have given it higher marks but it doesn’t quite tick the boxes. Overall though, it’s more enjoyable than the sum of its parts. The time passes quite nicely and there’s nothing particularly jarring. If you have to make some one watch a cheesy Christmas movie, then this is probably one they could tolerate.
Next Time Out
We’re heading back to the water with ‘Christmas on Mistletoe Lake’. We’re 10 movies in and it’s not been a classic season so far so, with a suitably cheesy title, let’s hope for a suitably cheesy movie.