Today’s quick review: The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain. Reginald Anson (Hugh Grant) is an English surveyor who is remeasuring all the mountains in Wales for an official update to the maps. He arrives with his grumpy colleague in a small Welsh village which prides itself on being home to “the first mountain in Wales”. But when their survey measures the hill at just below the height requirement for a mountain, the villagers are outraged. Led by Morgan the Goat (Colm Meaney), they rally together to keep the surveyors from leaving town while they scramble for a way to restore the hill to a mountain. During the delay, Reginald finds love with a local woman named Elizabeth (Tara Fitzgerald), and the villagers find a common cause to set apart their rivalries.
The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain is a subdued romantic comedy set in a Welsh village during World War I. The main draws of the film are its low-stakes drama, its satisfying if predictable love story, and its rustic charm. The villagers are a colorful and wryly humorous lot, and their schemes and contentions set the plot in motion. Hugh Grant and Tara Fitzgerald have good chemistry together; their romance develops quite naturally from Elizabeth’s attempts to distract Reginald and successfully keeps him occupied while the villagers go about their business.
Make no mistake: the film is slow and quiet. The stakes never rise above the pride of a small village, there is no violence, and nearly all the jokes are delivered in British deadpan. The payoff is small coin for those more used to lavish cinematic productions: one romance, the honest charm of Welsh country folk, and an unusual fight over cartography. The realistic target audience is quite narrow, limited to those willing to invest their time and attention to catch the simple joys and nuanced humor that the movie delivers. Those who fall into this category will find the film charming; all others will find it dry.
Put another way, you should watch The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain only if you are a sap. The romance, the humor, and the characters are all rewarding for those who have wholesome tastes and wish to be pleased, with no violence, crudity, or excessive drama to ruin the atmosphere. Anyone else should steer clear. The movie is a clean execution of a concept with limited appeal.
6.6 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 7.0 to 7.5 for quaintness and charm; anyone outside of the optimal audience will find it closer to 6.0.