It being out for 10 years now, I figured it was time I checked this out. Richard Curtis is a genius at one very specific thing: writing for side characters. This movie stinks, though. Stick with “Notting Hill” or anything Curtis wrote for BBC Television. Also — Andie MacDowall? She is the most wooden, bland and unappealing woman in this film. It is impossible to understand what Hugh Grant sees in her, especially when comparing her to the spunky redhead, the stunning Kristin Scott Thomas, or even, hell, the charming Scottish gay dude. Looking at this and the rest of his work, I don’t understand how Mike Newell pulled off the fantastic “Donnie Brasco.”