Although he has made occasional attempts to broaden his range, such as the medical thriller "Extreme Measures" or the Woody Allen comedy "Small Time Crooks", Hugh Grant remains best known for romantic comedies such as "Four Weddings and a Funeral", "Notting Hill" or "Love Actually". Or, for that matter, "Sense and Sensibility", most Jane Austen films being essentially rom-coms in period costume.
"Two Weeks Notice" is another Hugh Grant rom-com, this time set in New York rather than Britain. The plot has certain similarities with the Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan vehicle "You've Got Mail", another romantic comedy about love between a wealthy tycoon and an idealistic young woman who, at first sight, would seem to have every reason to dislike him. The tycoon in "Two Weeks Notice" is George Wade, a billionaire real estate developer and the young woman is Lucy Kelson, a left-wing lawyer who specialises in acting for politically radical causes, especially environmental ones. Despite the radical differences in their personalities, George offers Lucy a position as his firm's chief in-house lawyer, largely because he is something of a playboy who likes to be surrounded by attractive young women, and she accepts the position because George has promised her that if she does he will preserve an old community centre which would otherwise have been destroyed as part of one of his development schemes. (The preservation of this centre is one of Lucy's pet causes).
Of course, Lucy soon realises that working for George is no picnic. He treats her more like an errand girl than a high-powered lawyer, giving her all sorts of menial tasks to perform, and she tries to resign (the title refers to the period of notice she has to give) only to find that this is more difficult than it seems; she has had to draft her own contract of employment, and has done such a watertight job that she finds it difficult to escape from it. Of course, all ends happily when George and Lucy fall for one another, a denouement which would be improbable in the extreme in real life but which is the only possible outcome in the alternate reality inhabited by rom-com scriptwriters.
Although the film is set in New York, George is nevertheless British. (It would be difficult for me to imagine Hugh Grant as any other nationality, although he did apparently play the Polish composer Chopin in "Impromptu", a film I have never seen). Here, essentially, he gets to play the same character as he has played in so many other movies, the boyish, ironic, self-deprecating middle-class Englishman. Unfortunately, this film is much less successful than other Grant romantic comedies such as "Four Weddings .." and "Notting Hill". One reason is that his standard screen persona just doesn't work in this context. He may be plausible as a small London bookshop owner; he is much less plausible as a ruthless business tycoon. Grant has always been rather laid back; sometimes this can be an attractive characteristic, but here it just looks as though he simply isn't trying. David Haig as George's even more ruthless and self-centred older brother Howard doesn't convince either; the arguments between them seem less like high-powered boardroom disputes than like a suburban bank manager giving a ticking-off to an idle subordinate.
The failure of the film cannot, however, be blamed entirely on Grant. Marc Lawrence's script is flat and lacks the sparkling with that Richard Curtis brought to "Four Weddings .." and "Notting Hill". The heroines of both those films, Andie McDowell's Carrie and Julia Roberts' Anna, were both ladies that any man would instantly have fallen in love with. Sandra Bullock is, physically, as attractive as either McDowell or Roberts, but she has always struck me as a dull, uncharismatic actress, and her Lucy came across as the sort of boringly self-righteous left-winger who could drive Che Guevara into the arms of the Conservative Party. Romantic comedy, done well, can be fun and amusing; done badly, it is a boring and forgettable film like "Two Weeks Notice". 4/10
"Two Weeks Notice" is another Hugh Grant rom-com, this time set in New York rather than Britain. The plot has certain similarities with the Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan vehicle "You've Got Mail", another romantic comedy about love between a wealthy tycoon and an idealistic young woman who, at first sight, would seem to have every reason to dislike him. The tycoon in "Two Weeks Notice" is George Wade, a billionaire real estate developer and the young woman is Lucy Kelson, a left-wing lawyer who specialises in acting for politically radical causes, especially environmental ones. Despite the radical differences in their personalities, George offers Lucy a position as his firm's chief in-house lawyer, largely because he is something of a playboy who likes to be surrounded by attractive young women, and she accepts the position because George has promised her that if she does he will preserve an old community centre which would otherwise have been destroyed as part of one of his development schemes. (The preservation of this centre is one of Lucy's pet causes).
Of course, Lucy soon realises that working for George is no picnic. He treats her more like an errand girl than a high-powered lawyer, giving her all sorts of menial tasks to perform, and she tries to resign (the title refers to the period of notice she has to give) only to find that this is more difficult than it seems; she has had to draft her own contract of employment, and has done such a watertight job that she finds it difficult to escape from it. Of course, all ends happily when George and Lucy fall for one another, a denouement which would be improbable in the extreme in real life but which is the only possible outcome in the alternate reality inhabited by rom-com scriptwriters.
Although the film is set in New York, George is nevertheless British. (It would be difficult for me to imagine Hugh Grant as any other nationality, although he did apparently play the Polish composer Chopin in "Impromptu", a film I have never seen). Here, essentially, he gets to play the same character as he has played in so many other movies, the boyish, ironic, self-deprecating middle-class Englishman. Unfortunately, this film is much less successful than other Grant romantic comedies such as "Four Weddings .." and "Notting Hill". One reason is that his standard screen persona just doesn't work in this context. He may be plausible as a small London bookshop owner; he is much less plausible as a ruthless business tycoon. Grant has always been rather laid back; sometimes this can be an attractive characteristic, but here it just looks as though he simply isn't trying. David Haig as George's even more ruthless and self-centred older brother Howard doesn't convince either; the arguments between them seem less like high-powered boardroom disputes than like a suburban bank manager giving a ticking-off to an idle subordinate.
The failure of the film cannot, however, be blamed entirely on Grant. Marc Lawrence's script is flat and lacks the sparkling with that Richard Curtis brought to "Four Weddings .." and "Notting Hill". The heroines of both those films, Andie McDowell's Carrie and Julia Roberts' Anna, were both ladies that any man would instantly have fallen in love with. Sandra Bullock is, physically, as attractive as either McDowell or Roberts, but she has always struck me as a dull, uncharismatic actress, and her Lucy came across as the sort of boringly self-righteous left-winger who could drive Che Guevara into the arms of the Conservative Party. Romantic comedy, done well, can be fun and amusing; done badly, it is a boring and forgettable film like "Two Weeks Notice". 4/10