Notting Hill

I think that, almost without exception, the work of Richard Curtis is complete garbage - the exceptions being the second series of Blackadder, and this one scene from the film Notting Hill. I would defy anybody to come up with one redeeming feature in any of the films apart from this one and don't get me started on the Vicar of Dibley! Even the much vaunted last Blackadder scene in series 4 is really just calculated sentimentality but, most of all, I hate the film Notting Hill with a vengeance. The film surely ranks as one of the most execrable instances of cinema in existence. I used to live near Notting Hill (the Ladbroke Grove end not the Gate end) and I think I can safely say that, even at the time of release, it didn't represent any kind of landscape that most of its residents would recognise. Having said that, amid the dross (and the scene where the characters contest to appear the most unfortunate is about as bad as you can get) there is this one scene in which Hugh Grant walks down Portobello Road from season to season that is absolutely stunning. Nowhere near enough to compensate for the whole thing but it certainly deserved to be in a better film.

And the Bill Withers track is perfect, of course.