Hugh Grant

Hugh Grant is spoken of for the likeable bumbler that stuck to him after Four Weddings and a Funeral, a type the British Film Institute archive measures in two separate pieces. Philip Kemp puts a clear claim: Grant's most unexpected performance up to then was a self-satisfied, manipulative theatre director in another film of Mike Newell's, work that never turns on the charm; for Kemp that villain is far more interesting than his hero. Kemp adds that the film he reviews disappoints the hope of opening that vein again. Charlotte O'Sullivan's piece on Notting Hill uses another measure: in the first film his character knew one of the richest men in Britain, while here all his friends are bankrupt. The piece on Bridget Jones's Diary recalls that a scandal in his real life is snickered over in the book, and relays the self-immolating line given to his part.