Tragic Loss

Hugh Grant Signals End to Acting Career

There are those who will suggest that I mean the title of this post facetiously. I do not.

Hugh Grant is not the best actor alive. He's not even close. But there's something about him that makes many movies better than they would otherwise be. Love Actually, Bridget Jones' Diary, Notting Hill, Two Weeks Notice, and even the deeply-flawed Nine Months all benefited from his considerable charm.

And let's not forget Sense and Sensibility, in which he played Emma Thompson's love interest and eventual husband. Perhaps it was the fact that he had Ang Lee directing him, but ol' Hugh was completely convincing. And in About a Boy, he had to carry the whole movie alongside a child actor. He owned that role and made the movie one with which I wouldn't willingly part. He even got a Golden Globe nomination and won an Empire Award! He may not be the person you think of when you think of high-quality cinema, but light comedies have their place as well, and the world of light comedies will be considerably poorer for the loss of Hugh Grant.