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 small village in Wales, relatively close to the boundary separating Wales from England, takes its identity from its proximity to what it considers to be its local mountain. All of a sudden, and quite unexpectedly, two English cartographers from the British Army show up to take a measurement of the hill and - to the horror of the town - the "mountain" is found to be 984 feet tall - 16 feet short of the 1000 feet required to be included on the map as a mountain.Set during the First World War, this movie presents an interesting picture of Welsh nationalism. In today's world, nationalism has acquired something of a bad name. It leads to feelings of superiority, racism, violence, terrorism and wars. The nationalism depicted here seemed to me to be of a more positive type. It wasn't about putting anyone down - it was about these villagers finding something about themselves and their land to take pride in without insulting anyone else - although it's clear that they themselves felt insulted by these two Englishmen having the nerve to question whether "their" mountain was really just a hill, and they set out to do something about it! One of the great lines in the movie was "if this isn't a mountain, we might as well be in England." The movie features good, if not overpowering, performances from pretty much everyone. Hugh Grant as the sympathetic Englishman Anson, and Ian McNeice as his less sympathetic partner - who considers the Welsh to be foreigners - do a fine job, and Colm Meaney has a very significant and well-played role as "Morgan the Goat" (there's some great humour here about Welsh names, that add to an overall wonderful, if somewhat low key, sense of humour throughout.) Tara Fitzgerald was also very good as Betty from Cardiff, who eventually becomes Anson's romantic interest, and also worth noting is Kenneth Griffith as Rev. Jones.Overall, this is a very pleasant journey of self-discovery for almost every character in the movie, and it's immensely enjoyable. 7/10

Despite the fact that it's about almost nothing relevant to the average movie-goer, THE ENGLISHMAN WHO WENT UP A HILL BUT CAME DOWN A MOUNTAIN manages to be a charming diversion but ultimately, it's as innocuous as its title.Drawbacks aside, it does offer some hauntingly beautiful color cinematography of Welsh landscapes, day and night, blazing with beauty, some quaint village shots of pubs and lodgings that look invitingly cosy, and some sketchy characterizations that do little more than pad out a rather tedious little tale.HUGH GRANT does another one of his befuddled, amused, eyebrow lifting characterizations, complete with stutter and smile and pause between words, a role he seemed destined to repeat again and again. But he fits the role and the story--which takes place in 1917 Wales.The jaunty musical score compensates for some slow moments but all the actors do a competent job of keeping things on a realistic level. There are no big names in the cast aside from Grant, but they all make their mark while he gets most of the footage for a rather awkward romance with a local girl who spends the night on the mountain with him.Summing up: Not much in the way of a plot, but it manages to be appealing and extremely well photographed.

This is a lovely movie; a lovely script based on a lovely true story, lovely acting and character development, and absolutely lovely cinematography. Watching this movie in high definition is simply stunning (mind you, it would be beautiful in a movie theater too, if you could find a clean print anywhere). This is the sort of movie Hollywood consistently made in the "good ol' days" - before the quality of a movie was based on the number of explosions and special effects or its ability to shock an audience. Even my 12 year-old-son said "this is actually a really good movie." If you enjoy curling up on a rainy Sunday watching Tracy and Hepburn, I think you'll enjoy this movie - even more so if you are lucky enough see it in High Def!