Love Actually [2003]

Hugh Grant plays the loveable 'prince charming' role- this time he's a prime minister who falls in love with a member of his staff who is played by Martine Mcutcheon (surprisingly well)...Colin Firth escapes to France to recover from a broken heart but then finds the girl of his dreams, only problem is she's Portuguese and therefore they don't understand a word each other says...One of the most superbly acted thread of the storyline is that between a married woman who feels like she is losing her husband who is attracted to his younger worker at a newspaper office. They are played by Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman to perfection and so wholly believable you end up rooting for them right to the end...Liam Neeson plays a widowed Father desperately trying to somehow connect with his son, who himself is feeling the pain of love when he tries to win the affection of a girl in his school...Laura Linney plays a journalist who is completely in-love with a co-worker since she first started but never told him, instead opting to admire from afar...There's also Kiera Knightley (Pirates of the Caribbean) who mistakes the reason why her newly wed husband's best friend seems so distant with her, played by the ever charming Andrew Lincoln...Even though that's enough for any film, there is even more brilliant acting from the 'supporting' cast which includes the ever funny Rowan Atkinson and the hilairious Bill Nighy as an ageing rocker with one last shot at reaching the top of the charts...Even after that there's still more- from Kris Marshall who makes his break from My Family to the big screen and Billy Bob Thorton who tries to steal The Prime Minister's love.

With a cast this big, and so impressive, what more could you ask for from a film? The plot is woven in and out of each other, intricatally connecting and inter-connecting, climaxing on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day. The only problem is that the film is almost too good- some storylines are so touching (Laura Linney's deprivation from the love of her life to attend to her ill brother) and some are so heart-felt (Colin Firth dashing to Portugal to pronounce his love) that you just want to see more of them. Other storylines aren't completely finished and your left wandering what happened which I'm not sure if it was done on purpose or not, and some (Alan Rickman and his wife Emma Thompson) coulld just have an entire film all by themselves.

The extras include all the usual you would expect from a DVD- audio commentaries, deleted scenes, a storytellers featurette, music highlights- and yes, you even get Bill Nighy's brilliant music video for 'Love is all Around.' Overall this film cannot fail to make you feel good, even though sometimes it leaves you in tears it never stops making you laugh.


Carry On Curtis   March 3, 2004
Andy Millward (Broxbourne, Herts, UK)
35 out of 48 found this review helpful

OK, so it's corny, cliched and predictable, but you can't help loving it - a bit like the Carry On series really. You couldn't go wrong, could you: a heady mix of romance and Christmas is always going to melt even the hardest heart.

And to be fair, Curtis's script delivers laughter and tears in roughly the right proportions. It also highlights many of the dilemmas associated with being in love, and encapsulates many associated emotions, from total fear of rejection, to loving the unattainable, to wanting to yell at the top of your voice, "I can do anything!" Curtis also manages to dovetail the characters together with the precision of a Tarantino, thus enabling all loose ends to be tied up neatly.

Unlike a previous reviewer, I rather liked the interludes with the stand-in porn stars - made for a different take on relationships, if nothing else.

Curtis is helped in directing his first film by a virtual who's who of British acting talent (plus the odd American and Portuguese.) Bill Nighy, Emma Thompson, Colin Firth and Liam Neeson are all as delightful as ever, of course. Hugh Grant is Hugh Grant - a brilliant impersonation! - but Prime Minister he certainly is not. Gravitas is not Hugh's middle name (did anyone notice that his cabinet is the most representative in history, by virtue of women and ethnic minorities present?), but that doesn't really matter here.

Look out also for some delightful cameos, notably Rowan Atkinson as the fastidious jewellery assistant in the department store.


Wonderful British humour!   March 1, 2004
33 out of 42 found this review helpful

I saw this film at the cinema and came out feeling that life is not so bad after all! A real "feel good" film, just how life should be, brilliant actors - all the best in one film and a lot of fun!


A terrible film   March 10, 2004
John W. Kramer (UK)
31 out of 85 found this review helpful

This really was one of the worst films I've seen. A poor, confusing basket case of a film. The storylines were facile, just not funny in any sense. The heart-warming moments were so sugary. Completely predictable and basically boring. Please, no more of this "From the producers of 4 Weddings" stuff, they're really flogging a dead horse.


If you don't like RomComs or Hugh Grant, just don't watch it   September 9, 2006
Demac (Milton Keynes, Purgatory, UK)
26 out of 31 found this review helpful

I've just read through all of the reviews on here and so many people have started theirs with the words "I don't normally like romantic comedies" or "I don't like Hugh Grant films". Then why are they watching it?
Too many people are watching this expecting too much. It's a film, not a documentary. In the words of Colin Firth, "It's not bloody Shakespeare".

Yes, Hugh Grant plays his standard character, (bumbling Englishman who you just want to give a slap), but that's what he plays. You don't find him doing a Tarantino do you?
Richard Curtis did a radio interview a few months ago and was asked what his plans for fuure projects was and he said that there were only so many ways he could get Hugh to mumble. He gets the joke, Hugh Grant is a parody of Hugh Grant.

Yes, Richard Curtis overdoes the sugar sweetness by a huge bucketload. That's what he does with his movies, split personalities. With Blackadder you got Curtis the cynic, with movies you get Curtis the incurable romantic.

People have said that the characters were unbelievable, that you don't find all these types of people in London. Go to the middle of London, it's full of them. Curtis has captured middle class England perfectly. It just might not be so recognizable to all of us at around the minimum wage mark.

I think a lot of people who have given this bad reviews really haven't watched it properly, hell most of them didn't even get the names and events right. Personally I think it is a great film to watch when you want to be uplifted, if you can't keep up with more than one storyline then go buy the Teletubbies. If you want a film that shows Britain for the majority then watch Shaun of the Dead, if you want Britain at its worst then watch Scum.
If you want to see Britain at the same level as Richrd Curtis see it then watch this, he says that a lot of characters and events in his films can be traced back to people and events he sees around him.

The cast in this are mostly wonderful:
Hugh Grant - Plays Hugh Grant in a wide selection of ties
Colin Firth - Can do comedy and emotion with equal ease, but can't help jumping in water.
Liam Neeson - Can't go wrong with Liam (Except Star Wars but that was beyond Liams control). Only he could have pulled of the funeral scene with as well as he did.
Bill Nighy - Pure comic genius, hard to remember seeing this that he is a dramatic actor, in this he is hilarious.
Alan Rickman - Again, how can he do wrong?
Rowan Atkinson - Another great Curtis regular, and one of Britains all time best actors. Should be given bigger parts but makes up for it in performance.
Thomas Sangster - Young but shows potential for future acting.
Emma Thompson - One of the most emotional scenes of the film, listening to CD alone in bedroom.
Martine McCutcheon - Wasn't expecting much from a TV actress but was surprised. Seeing Hugh Grant kissing her was just plain wrong though. Like a dirty old man.
Keira Knightley - Pre-Pirates and still finding her way in movies, wasn't in the film enough to develop completely.
Laura Linney - Wonderful performance, you could feel her pain at having to choose between family and love.
Lucia Moniz - Wonderful, shy and quiet at first, sweet,cute and adorable at end. Also Portugese Eurovision Song Contest entrant in the 90's but don't hold it against her.

Listen to the cast commentary with Richard Curtis, Hugh Grant, Bill Nighy and Thomas Sangster. It's almost as good as the film itself.

This film isn't for everyone but then what film is there in the world that EVERYONE loves?