William Thacker is your average thirty-something Londoner, trying to make end meet running his own specialist travel bookshop in the Notting Hill area. His mundane day to day routine is well and truly shaken up when world famous actress Anna Scott visits his shop and purchases a book. Being the ultra-polite Englishman he is, William is far too well-mannered to draw attention to the gorgeous Ms Scott or be crass and ask for an autograph. When he bumps into her (literally) in the street only minutes later and spills a cup of orange juice over her he is only too quick to invite her into his house (the one with the blue door) and let her clean herself up. Gratified by both this charming and honest approach in contrast to the either bitchy or sycophantic way she is normally dealt with Anna is swept off her feet and ends their tryst by planting a huge smacker on the surprised William?s mouth.

What happens then is the wholly enjoyable if not wholly unlikely and wholly predictable love story between these two extremely likeable characters. The ups and downs are thoroughly entertaining and include many a hilarious scene, whether it?s the magazine interview for Horse and Hounds, Spike?s doorstep posing or William wearing goggles in the cinema. The story isn?t just about comedy though; the romantic scenes are finely crafted and have a poignancy of their own.

Where for me the film does fall down if we must compare it to other is that there isn?t any sub-plot to speak of, or even other characters that we can get interested in Four Weddings was just as much about Charles? friends as it was about Charles, whereas here the story is all about William and Anna and although the minor characters are unforgettable in their own way they don?t actually do anything apart from provide background.