Reviewer's Rating 3 out of 5 听 User Rating 4 out of 5
The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill, But Came Down a Mountain (1995)
PG

Although films set in Wales, or about Welshness, are few and far between, this incongruously titled offering falls into a tradition of comedy which might include such classics as "Whiskey Galore", or more recently, "Waking Ned".

Released soon after "Four Weddings and a Funeral" it is unlikely that it would have got much attention if not for the presence of Hugh Grant. You won't be surprised to learn that he plays the Englishman of the title, but he is far from the most engaging or well-drawn character in the ensemble. Colm Meaney plays irreverent Welsh opportunist, Morgan the Goat, who is thrown into an unlikely alliance with Kenneth Griffith's hellfire preacher to help raise a mountain in defiance of the English.

As in the films mentioned above, a community is threatened by malevolent and usually bureaucratic outside forces. In this case it's Grant's meddling cartographer, ably assisting a corpulent Ian McNeice in trying to ascertain whether or not Ffynnon Garw is a mountain or a hill. Proud to live in the shadow of 'The First Mountain in Wales', the villagers are determined to thwart their efforts.

Morgan enlists Betty (Tara Fitzgerald) to provide romantic interest for a stammering Grant, but the enduring romance in this film is the pleasantly photographed hill in question. Or mountain, depending how you look at it.

End Credits

Director: Christopher Monger

Writer: Christopher Monger

Stars: Hugh Grant, Tara Fitzgerald, Colm Meaney, Kenneth Griffith, Ian McNeice, Ian Hart

Genre: Comedy, Romance

Length: 95 minutes

Cinema: 1995

VHS: 4 July 1999

Country: UK

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