Hugh Grant, his best films are not just for romantics
From the shy bookseller in Notting Hill to the confirmed bachelor in Four Weddings. From the Oompa Loompa in Wonka to the diabolical Mr. Reed in the upcoming Heretic . A recap of Mr. “Blue Eyes”'s most beloved and unexpected roles
“Basically my life is so boring it embarrasses me.” There are hundreds of statements like this from Hugh Grant . Cynical, caustic, disconcerting. And yet we love him all the same. On September 9, 2024, the blue-eyed British actor turns 64, many of which have been spent denying everything he has instead represented (very well) on the big screen. That is, the narrative arc of the romantic man par excellence who suffers and torments himself so much before joining his beloved. And yet, from those sappy and funny, ironic and happy-ending films, our Londoner does not seem to have been able to stay away for too long. Certain that the contradictory nature of man is among the decisive characteristics in confirming the authenticity, so imperfect and unpredictable, of Hugh Grant, children (5 had by three different women - the last two with the Swedish producer Anna Eberstein, who then became his wife in 2018), and private life, we are rather interested in refreshing the exploratory journey into the world of feelings and relationships from which he wants us to believe he distances himself.
Celebrating Hugh Grant's birthday with his best films is one of the best choices you can make to review the interpretative range absorbed during his indolent but bright career . Without the possibility of being able to distance ourselves from the romantic cult roles to the most ironic and cheeky ones. From Hugh Grant in Notting Hill to the diabolical and sinister Mr. Reed in Heretic, up to the recovery of a James Ivory of poetic intensity, Maurice , it is a crazy journey.
Hugh Grant, the most beautiful films to see
Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
If the affable Charles spends the entire film discovering what love is, the audience succeeds in doing so within the first minute of the film, even though it is yet another rewatch.
Bitter Moon (1992)
When Fiona (Kristin Scott Thomas) and Nigel Dobson (Hugh Grant) meet the young French girl (Emmanuelle Seigner) and her husband Oscar on the ship from Turkey to India, the journey takes an unexpected turn. This party scene with rolling and subsequent seasickness seems to be the mother of the much-loved Östlund film scene in Triangle of Sadness (2022).
Notting Hill (1999)
It's basically a Cinderella movie that unfolds between shy bookseller William and Hollywood star Anna ( Julia Roberts ) with the inevitable and very probable love at first sight and consequent happy ending. Tooth decay aside, it's always a beautiful sight ( Rhys Ifans aka roommate Spike's grey briefs - included).
Love Actually (2003)
It is now known how much Mr. Grant hates this scene, even after all these years and despite the countless celebrations of one of the cult moments of the entire film. Maybe. But today we have made that swaying hips, already at the first notes of Jump by the Pointer Sisters, all the way down the stairs of Downing Street, into an indispensable collective meme.
Bridget Jones's Diary (2001)
Every meanness is known about the enigmatic and womanizing Daniel Cleaver, Bridget's boss at the Pemberley Press publishing house ( the name of Darcy's family estate in Pride and Prejudice, ed.) . And here, for the first time Grant abandons the role of the romantic hero to reveal shades that are decidedly different from the usual repertoire shown on the big screen. Could it be that Daniel is a bit like him in real life too? While waiting for the fourth episode to be released on Valentine's Day in 2025, we are ready to re-watch.
Wonka (2023)
Hugh Grant becomes an Oompa Loompa. What else?
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)
His name is Phillip and he is the life partner of Benoit Blanc, the dandy detective played by Daniel Craig in the comedy thriller Glass Onion - Knives Out by Rian Johnson, now in its third chapter and due for release in 2025. Here in the cameo role of boyfriend, Grant appears exhausted and smeared with flour in the tranquility and intimacy of the kitchen of the house where they live together with Blanc but is caught by surprise in the middle of a session of making naturally leavened bread. Adorable.
Heretic (2024)
Produced by A24 and due out this winter, Heretic stars Hugh Grant as the diabolical Mr. Reed, a seemingly harmless gentleman intent on playing a sadistic and deadly game with two hapless Mormon girls who decide to knock on his door as well. Yes, it's a horror film.
Maurice (1987)
James Ivory's signature is in Maurice , a film that won three awards at the Venice Film Festival in 1987, including the Silver Lion Special Award for Best Director and the Volpi Cup for a young Hugh Grant. Based on a 1917 novel by EM Forster, the film identifies itself as a gay story in early twentieth-century England, when homosexuality was still punished with prison and a lifelong ban from the nation's public life.