It's just a film standing in front of two podcasters asking them to take it lovingly apart and put it back together better.

Notting Hill Year: 1999 Written by: Richard Curtis Directed by: Roger Michell Stars: Julia Roberts, Hugh Grant

Show notes:

We really get into this one - and for 'this one' read Richard Curtis films in general and their male leads in particular. 26 years after its release there is much that is good about this film and also much to fix.

If you would like to skip the plot summary for this month's film you can spool forward about 12 minutes into the episode.

In this episode we mention the films: Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109831/) About Time (2013) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2194499/) Love Actually (2003) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0314331/) Going the Distance* (2010) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1322312/) Always Be My Maybe* (2019) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7374948/) The Idea of You* (2024) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9466114/) Pretty Woman (1990) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100405/)

And the TV series: Black Books (2000-2004) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0262150/)

*Films marked with an asterisk have previously been featured on the podcast.

Correction: We said in the last episode that Hitch might be the only rom com that centres the heterosexual man's experience. For whatever reason we forgot that Notting Hill also does this. As does Four Weddings And A Funeral. And other Richard Curtis films.

If you are interested to read more about what has been called Boarding School Syndrome, Nick Duffell's book The Making of Them is a good primer. Chapter 8 can be found in its entirety on the boardingrecovery site here: https://boardingrecovery.com/docs/leaving-home.pdf.

Next month we are going to be talking about The Runaway Bride (1999) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0163187/).

If you would like to suggest films for future episodes, you can tweet Lisa: @LisaStowaway.

We record these episodes over the internet. Sometimes the audio is not perfect. We apologise for that.

Music in this episode is by Martin Zaltz Austwick (martinzalzaustwick.com). Artwork is by Lisa Findley.

Thank you for listening!