Notting Hill / About A Boy – Pink Ribbon Collection (2 Disc Set)

Notting Hill:

Every man's dream comes true for William Thacker, a successless Notting Hill bookstore owner, when Anna Scott, the world's most beautiful woman and best-liked actress, enters his shop. A little later, he still can't believe it himself, William runs into her again – this time spilling orange juice over her. Anna accepts his offer to change in his nearby apartment, and thanks him with a kiss, which seems to surprise her even more than him. Eventually, Anna and William get to know each other better over the months, but being together with the world's most wanted woman is not easy – neither around your closest friends, nor in front of the all-devouring press.

Critic Reviews:

• " A timely (particularly for the two stars) commentary on celebrity, a distinctly British romantic comedy. " – Juliet Litman

• " For all its cheesiness, Notting Hill delivers a very great deal of pleasure… " – Peter Bradshaw

• " The ending is happy and ironic in equal measure, but most of the fun is just getting there with the right chemistry and compatibility. " – Andrew Sarris

About A Boy:

In this fine adaptation of Nick Hornby's novel, Hugh Grant plays Will, a 38-year old Londoner living a bachelor lifestyle on the back of royalties earned from a Christmas song penned by his dad years earlier. A serial womaniser, he spends his days lazing around his designer pad watching TV, and then comes up with the idea of attending a single parents group as a new way to pick up women.

There he invents a two-year old son for himself, and it all results in his encountering lonely, bullied schoolboy Marcus (Nicholas Hoult) and his depressive, music therapist mother (Toni Collette). Marcus soon learns that Will has been lying and so blackmails him into letting him hang out at his place and watch afternoon telly. However, what starts out as an uneasy quiz show watching alliance inevitably turns into a friendship of sorts…

Critic Reviews:

• " The film has tremendous star power, added to this fact, it's a remarkably warm and witty film, filmed with unique creativity and visual gusto, and a catchy soundtrack. " – Danny Anderson

• " While the movie has some awkwardly executed scenes and slow spots… this is a comedy with a heart… It's funny, it's smart, it's poignant – and it's set on Planet Earth. " – Jean Westmoore

• " If the story gets dangerously thin, Grant is pretty well flawless. And Collette, always good, is heartbreakingly believable. " – Tom Gliatto