A Hugh Grant Movie Is Blowing Up On Netflix This Week
Hugh Grant is seeing one of his movies take off on Netflix.
This article is more than 2 years old
Today, streaming users are rediscovering one of the big movies from Hugh Grant’s biggest days at the box office for rom-com hits. Two Weeks Notice is currently in the top ten most-watched movies on Netflix in the United States. It’s been nearly 20 years since this romantic comedy starring Grant and Sandra Bullock released in 2002.
In Two Weeks Notice, Hugh Grant plays George Wade. He’s a rich guy who acts as the public face for his family’s major corporation. He has a history of hiring women who are under qualified to act as his lawyer. Grant’s character has casual sexual relationships with all of them, not really needing legal counsel. When it is decided that he does need professional legal counsel, he hires Lucy Kelson, played by Sandra Bullock. Kelson is a Harvard-educated lawyer. Her parents were also professional lawyers. Her career has been focused on helping communities. Specifically, she works to protect community buildings. Naturally, Wade’s company destroys them.
In a deal to protect a community building, Sandra Bullock’s character takes a job with Hugh Grant. Her parents warn her not to do this, but she believes she can make it work with Grant’s character. However, the character George Wade has never treated a lawyer properly before. He treats Bullock’s character like she is his personal caretaker, having her run errands. The two greatly dislike each other, are forced to work together, and constantly clash. Until, of course, they fall in love.
This story comes from Marc Lawrence. He was also responsible for Miss Congeniality, which was a big hit for Sandra Bullock, and Music and Lyrics, a hit for Hugh Grant. Today, it has scored all right for a romantic comedy with audiences. It has a 6.2 IMDB score and a 42% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Critics have reviewed this movie as all right. Roger Ebert said it was fairly predictable and gave it three stars. Empire said it was, “A solid, enjoyable film rather than a spectacular one, it still has more going for it than most recent romantic comedies.” Elle Magazine recently did a rewatch of romantic comedies from the early 2000s. They said the film was problematic and they’d never watch it again. They also felt it was fair to let audiences know that, like Home Alone 2, Donald Trump suddenly appears at a party in this one.
In 2002, Two Weeks Notice did well at the box office. This was a big moment for romantic comedies and for Hugh Grant. This movie earned $199 million worldwide. It followed up his big 1999 success with Notting Hill at $363 million and 2001’s Bridget Jones’s Diary at $281 million. A year later, he would appear in Love Actually as the Prime Minister. This is one of the bigger films we know him for today. It would be several years before he was in 2007’s Music and Lyrics with Drew Barrymore. That movie earned $145 million at the box office. It did well, but wasn’t quite as big as Love Actually, Notting Hill, or Bridget Jones. Since then, romantic comedies haven’t done as well at the box office and we’ve seen less of Hugh Grant. He had a role in Cloud Atlas and voiced Phoenix Buchanan in Paddington 2.
These days, Hugh Grant is often asked about his time starring in so many romantic comedies. Occasionally, he is asked about the possibility of sequels. The actor is now in his 60s. While we haven’t had any rom-com revivals, there’s the first time for everything. When asked about a Notting Hill 2, he suggested we could all watch the tragic story of his character getting a divorce. This was likely a joke, which also points out that there isn’t much to do with a rom-com sequel.
While Hugh Grant’s romantic comedy days may be behind him, there actually is big news coming for the actor. Today, we are waiting to see Grant in Dungeons & Dragons. It is being reported that Hugh Grant will be our villain for the movie. The movie also stars Chris Pine. The team behind Game Night is creating this one, suggesting we are in for a comedy. The pair have talked a lot about how they’re working with the makers responsible for the game and enjoying their own DnD night. While past Dungeons & Dragons films have been disappointments, hopes are high that this time they’ll pull it off.
