Expected more

Crappy film

As Good As It Gets

Absolutely Fantastic

Others have described the plot of this film. I just add my praise to that of a few other reviewers who saw much more than the gentle comedy in "The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill …" The movie was filmed in Wales, and gives us some nice scenic shots of the countryside, with the mountain/hill. But much of the enjoyment of this film is in the character studies. It so nicely gives us a look at several people and their "Welshness." I can't say how folks from Wales may like the depictions; but they are curious, warm, friendly, and very real people shown in this film. All the acting is first-rate. Colm Meany and Kenneth Griffith play wonderfully off each other as pub-owner Morgan the Goat and Reverend Jones, respectively. Hugh Grant is very good in one of his most laid back comedy roles – here as a naturally shy young veteran from WW I. Tara Fitzgerald is very good as Betty. The rest of the cast make up a wonderful variety of different, if not eccentric, characters. This is not a comedy of rip-roaring laughter. It isn't loaded with sight-gags, or witty one-liners. There are a few clever lines, but the comedy of this film is in the everyday lives of the people of this Welsh community, and in the cunning to rouse the community to deal with a mountain of a problem. It is a very clean film, suitable for all ages and audiences. As many others have noted, it's a comedy of warmth that makes one feel good at its end. This film isn't for modern movie-goers who must have a constant flow of adrenalin. Or maybe it is – to help slow them down so they can learn to smell the roses along the way. Regarding the town's problem, it's interesting that there don't seem to be any real set standards for designation of mountains versus hills. The sources I checked seem to agree that the difference is more in the degree of steepness, rather than actual height. Funny though, that the 1,000-foot mark of distinction seemed to come from the U.S., where the British favored more a 2,000-foot mark. The outside scenes of this movie were filmed at Gyrn Moelfre, a hill or mountain in northeast Wales near the border with England. It has an elevation of 1,716 feet above sea level. But it rises just 778 feet above the surrounding terrain. The movie shows people climbing the hill on a trail with switchbacks. Indeed, climbing any hill of good size gives one the "feel" of having scaled a small mountain.The story came from one that director Christopher Monger heard from his grandfather about the village of Ffynnon Taf (Taff's Well), and it's nearby mountain/hill, Ffynnon Garw (Garth Hill). It's located just a few miles north of Cardiff. But because of modern growth, the movie was filmed further away in the middle of Wales near Liansilin.

I have been talking about this movie for YEARS. Unforgettable. This is absolutely the most boring movie I have ever seen and WILL ever see. There is no chance than any movie ever made again can possibly be as boring. I use this movie as a bench mark for comparing other bad movies. Example> "At least that bad movie is not as bad as he went up a hill and came down a mountain". - I have been talking about this movie for YEARS. Unforgettable. This is absolutely the most boring movie I have ever seen and WILL ever see. There is no chance than any movie ever made again can possibly be as boring. I use this movie as a bench mark for comparing other bad movies. Example> "At least that bad movie is not as bad as he went up a hill and came down a mountain".

A pleasant, unusual comedy. Supposedly based on a real story (but probably not) and set in 1917, it tells the story of two English cartographers (Hugh Grant and Ian McNeice) who arrive in a Welsh village in order to take the measure of the nearby mountain, considered the pride of the locals. According to the height (more specifically, if it is higher than 1,000 feet), it will be determined whether it is indeed a mountain or it is just a hill. When the first measure turns out that it is just a few feet under the 1,000 mark, the anxious villagers will take action. In order to makes sure that it is recorded as a mountain, they will transport dirt and soil from the fields, and to the peak, bucket by bucket. At the same time, they will do everything to prevent the two cartographers from leaving town before they can take a second measure. Eventually, Grant, who falls in love with a local girl (Tara Fitzgerald), will help the villagers in their task (the other cartographer is much more meaner and dismissive of the Welsh). This is a small film in every sense, but it is very warm and funny.

What's the difference between a hill and a mountain? And more importantly, does it matter? Well, it did to the residents of a small Welsh village in 1917 when two English cartographers arrived to tell them that their 'mountain' did not in fact quite make the grade. The devastated locals hatch a plan to put the science right, and therein lies the plot of this very original and charming film.Its plot veers between the insignificant and the faintly ludicrous, but by the time you have realised this you are already enjoying yourself too much to care. Why? It's a delightful and clever combination of whimsical nostalgia and top-rate performances from some truly fine character actors who are clearly having a whale of a time.Most of these performances come as no surprise: Hugh Grant plays his archetypal Hugh Grant character of course - but what critics forget is that he does it very well. Ian McNeice is typically impressive as his pompous but rather stupid superior, as is Ian Hart as the troubled young boy just back from the trenches, and Colm Meaney keeps the standard high as the sly local barman. But for me the show is stolen by Kenneth Griffith as the passionate, ever-trembling, Reverend Jones (watch him in the scene when he scolds Morgan the Goat for selling alcohol at the hill - a tremendously funny and moving characterisation).For me, the film goes off the boil a little when it gets a bogged down in Grant's inevitable fling with local temptress Tara Fitzgerald. But thankfully this doesn't clog the pace of the film too much, and we move to the denouement.It's only after the film has finished that you realise there was much more to it than met the eye. The atmospheric portrayal of early 20th century Wales owes much to meticulous direction and a wonderfully vibrant score. Critics might find some of the locals a bit yokelish, but that would be harsh, I think. This is an affectionate and subtle period piece, with something to say about the human spirit. But even more than that, it's an enjoyable, well-acted, funny and ultimately uplifting film.