This Hugh Grant movie, set in 1917, is a fun story of a village who was determined, a man who just wanted to do his job, and another man who wanted a nap and a pint of bitters, and then to go home.
Cartographers Reginald Anson (Hugh Grant) and George Garrad (Ian McNeice) have been commissioned by the Queen of England to make several maps of Wales. They drove across the border and stopped in the first small village they came to so they could take measurements of the area, particularly of the hills and mountains. Morgan, the pub keeper (Colm Meany) tells them that the people of the village are particularly proud of their mountain and want to see it included on the map. The rule states that a mountain must be at least a thousand feet high in order to be mapped out, and when Anson and Garrad are done with their measurements, they discover that the mountain lacks twenty feet and therefore is a hill.
This throws the villagers for a loop. How could their precious mountain really just be a hill? It affects their pride and their patriotism. This simply can’t be the case.
Calling an emergency town meeting, the reverend and the other influential townspersons discuss ways to right this terrible wrong. It is decided that they will add twenty feet to the top of the mountain, but they have to do it before the cartographers leave. They will cart dirt up the mountain and tamp it down. If the whole village works together, surely they’d be able to do it. But will they have enough time?
The village bands together to keep the Englishmen in town while they work on the hill. Their car is strangely disabled and for some reason the train station doesn’t sell tickets. Seeking to entice the men into staying of their own free will, Morgan invites Betsy to come stay at the pub, a pretty girl who will turn the Englishmen’s heads, he’s sure.
Soon Anson realizes that they’re being bamboozled, and he can’t help but admire their determination. At the end, he’s helping them cart the dirt and cover it with sod, and is proud to take the final measurement, proclaiming the hill to be a mountain at one thousand and two feet.
There were things I really liked about this movie and things I didn’t care so much for. I loved the unity shown by the villagers. Even though they had their differences, they came together for the common good. There was one young man who had been shell shocked in the Great War and struggled from time to time, but everyone understood that about him and did their best to support him. I didn’t think some of the language was necessary and there is one inappropriate grab on Morgan’s part that didn’t need to be included. All in all, however, I felt the good outweighed the bad and came away with a positive experience. It doesn’t hurt that I have Welsh in my ancestry, either . . .
This movie is rated PG.
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