Love Actually

I have lost count of how many times I have watched this wonderfully written and acted Christmas romance themed classic film. At least once a year so that would be at least seventeen (17) times now. Great songs, a superb cast from top to bottom, heartwarming romances, and of course a must see "FEEL GOOD" ending.

It is most deserving of a perfect 10 for 10 IMDB rating.

Like most guys I would never have seen this movie on my own or with male friends. However my girlfriend was in town and I thought a romantic comedy would make an ideal movie for us to see together.

I had heard about the reference to 9/11 made at the beginning of the movie and was dreading having to sit through that part. However I was pleasantly surprised to note that the reference was very minor and not particularly cringe worthy either so I am not quite sure why it annoyed some people so much.

As regards to the movie overall I quite enjoyed it and would definitely recommend it as an ideal date film. A lot of the reviews here have disparaged the movie because they thought it was too glib about love and very unrealistic. But I think you have to accept that the movie was made to make people laugh and bring the spirit of love into the Christmas holiday period. If you watch the film in that context then it does its job admirably well.

However for me the best moment in the film was the press conference given (standing side by side) by the American president and the British Prime Minister. I actually felt like standing up and cheering when Hugh Grant (as the Prime Minister) finally tells the American president to his face and in front of the worlds press that Britain will no longer kowtow to American wishes but will have an independent view of its own.

Considering that America is the biggest market for movies it was extremely brave of Richard Curtis to write this scene and he deserves a lot of credit for portraying the American president as rather loathsome and putting into context what the `Special Relationship' really is all about.

As Richard Curtis must have known the movie had done okay but not great in the States. However it has cleaned up here in the UK and I'm sure will do very well in the rest of the world too.

So Bravo Richard Curtis for standing up for your principals; you are a hero!

It takes us until the end of this film to realise what the connection is between these people who, with Christmas fast approaching, are having troubles with love lives they have had for ages, have only just started - or just didn't know they wanted at all! Hugh Grant is the Blair-esque British Prime Minister who takes a shine to his assistant "Natalie" (Martine McCutcheon); recently widowed Liam Neeson ("Daniel") has to come to terms with the adoration his drum-learning eleven year old son 'Sam" has for a girl at school who is soon to head back to her American home; Colin Firth's rather wimpish "Jamie" finds that his relationship maybe just takes the concept of keeping things in the family a bit too far - but perhaps hope is on the horizon in Portugal? Meantime, an on-form Bill Nighy is hoping a re-versioned, shockingly tacky, seasonal version of the Trogs' "Love is All Around" will put him and long-suffering manager "Joe" (Gregor Fisher) back on the top of the chart; Emma Thompson is facing a crisis of confidence in her marriage to Alan Rickman - a man who seems to be having a crisis of his own with his office assistant/temptress "Mia" (Heike Makatsch); Martin Freeman and Joanna Page are gradually bonding while acting out an increasingly detailed series of sex scenes for a movie rehearsal and, well you get the drift. The story is peppered with pithy, observational humour that illustrates quite potently the various stages of love and relationships from loved-up ascendency through routine mundanity with all the concomitant tribulations that make us laugh, cringe and occasionally want to weep a bit. I always had a bit of a crush on Andrew Lincoln ever since he was in the BBC's "This Life" (1996) and so his storyline here with newly-wed best friend Chiwetel Ejiofor and Keira Knightley was a bit sad - there are two ways it can go, possibly even three? Laura Linney also features as the overworked "Sarah" who has her own crush on colleague "Karl" (Rodrigo Santoro) but who also brings some seriousness to the proceedings as she is constantly on her phone, at the most inappropriate of moments, but for anything but frivolous reasons (though this story does rather peter out). This is an amalgam that spins the threads together cleverly and entertainingly, whilst still keeping our eyes open to the realities of so many people who find Christmas a joy and/or a pain. Some storylines work better than others, but I suspect we'd never all agree on which we liked best - and that's a testament to the innovative writing and consistent pacing of this drama. I don't know about the Prime Minister's experiences at Heathrow Airport, but I came through there yesterday and can assure you - there were few feelings of love and affection as everyone battled just to get out - with trolley fights that wouldn't have looked out of place in "Ben Hur"

What I appreciated most about Love Actually was that for the most part, it realistically looks at relationships happy and sad, successful and unsuccessful, with a future and without. It addresses different forms and levels of love, sometimes straightforward and carefree, sometimes complex and contradictory. There are schmaltzy happy moments and touching sad ones, moments of great strength and moments of foolish weakness. The movie is made up of many threads, and of course some threads are stronger than others.

The most interesting parts of Love Actually are the times when it addresses the tragic situations where love is self-sacrificing, contradictory, or fragile. One character's unrequited love is revealed as a noble sacrifice made for another's happiness (the method of finally achieving closure and moving on, however, could only work in the movies). Another character is shown to be caught between conflicting duties that will, we are led to believe, prevent her from ever being truly happy. And the strength that a third shows when love is shown to be fragile and her world collapses around her is tragically inspiring.

These noble, tragic threads are interwoven with lighthearted comedic ones to produce a fabric that holds together well. While some characters have to fight for their love, others have simple, happy, straightforward relationships, with love (or whatever) falling in their laps like a parcel from Santa Claus. And the purely comic moments, like Rowan Atkinson's appearances and Hugh Grant's Christmas-caroling bodyguard, are delightful in and of themselves.

There are of course plenty of nits to pick. Hugh Grant doesn't make a very believable Prime Minister, and even his very pointed speech to his American counterpart -- especially relevant in light of Bush's recent state visit to England -- don't redeem the odd casting. Others in this forum have commented on the number of fat jokes in the film, and while I agree, I feel I should point out that the entire point of the first such joke is that the character who has fallen for the "fat" girl clearly doesn't think of her as fat, and doesn't understand at first who the other is talking about. It's true that calling her fat is ridiculous; she's only large in comparison to Keira Knightley, who must be carrying some vital organs around in her handbag because there's certainly not enough room in her torso! But that one time would have been enough; the "fat" theme gets tiresome later on in the movie. I also agree with those who have said that much of the nudity is completely unnecessary to the plot, and that at least some of the comedic threads in the movie are formulaic and unoriginal.

In the end, I feel that Love Actually is for the most part a thoughtful and entertaining look at relationships, which does not shy away from taking the bad with the good.

Love actually is all around on Christmas. "Love, actually" is a very British comedy about love on Christmas, and the magic of Christmas and the spirit of Christmas. It's a really clever idea of having many small and completely different stories being the focus of this movie because love comes in different kinds. The clever thing is that somehow all these stories do interact woth each other but each and every one of them serves its own purpose. Emma Thompson I think speaks to the hearts of many women around the globe, and her performance is very poignant and raw and real. Hugh Grant's story is here to remind us of Clinton and Lewinsky. And Keira Knightley of course steals the hearts of many once again. Some very iconic scenes, some great pop-culture moments and a ridiculous song and performance by a great Bill Nighy. "Love, actually" is unapologetically British and absolutely ridiculous and bonkers and I love it. A perfect holiday movie.