In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Blistering performances.

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.

The year is 1917, and two English mapmakers come to a tiny Welsh village to survey their so-called 'mountain.' With the war taking all the young men and the harsh life in the coal mines, the local folk have little to be proud of except their peak, but cartographer Anson (Hugh Grant) doubts that it reaches the minimum height required to be officially deemed a mountain and may, in fact, be merely a hill. Rallied by their minister, the entire town sets about making sure it's tall enough.This sweet and folksy comedy has a thin plot and moves at a snail's pace, but still succeeds thanks to the coziness of the village, the close bond the locals share, and Hugh Grant's boyish charms. Filmed just after "Four Weddings and a Funeral," but before he was an international star, Grant is bright, likable, and interesting and not-yet affected by his trademark stammering and eyelash-fluttering. Everything about the picturesque village seems authentic and the folksy humor is ingratiating. Enjoyable if you like character-driven films.

This film is about the villagers in a Welsh village building a mountain from a hill.The determination of the villagers is striking. It touches me that everyone in the village used every imaginable way to heighten the hill to a mountain. The train conductor has to lie, villagers have to do some vandalism, and a woman has to flirt to make the two surveyors stay. It shows that even the hardest task can be achieved through collective effort. It also reminds us not to give up even if there are obstacles that hinder our progress. This film brings such a warm and positive message, which is a rarity nowadays.

I know this wasn't a huge success. Grant committed to doing it before his huge hit Four Weddings and a Funeral, but it was fun nonetheless.The conflict between the uptight Englishmen and the Welsh villagers over whether they had a hill or a mountain was extremely funny, and their solution - getting Ian McNeice drunk and keeping Hugh Grant busy with Tara Fitzgerald, who also played Grant's wife in Sirens added to the hilarity.The randy barkeep comes up with the solution to the problem, ostensibly to sell more beer, but it gets the whole town working together and make for an enjoyable film.