Featured Film Review
"Love Actually"
© 2003 Working Title Films
Starring: Bill Nighy, Colin Firth, Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson,
Alan Rickman, Kris Marshall, Keira Knightley, Hugh Grant, Marina McCutcheon,
Laura Linney and Rowan Atkinson
Written by: Richard Curtis
Directed by: Richard Curtis
Runtime: 135 minutes
Rating: R for sexuality, nudity and language
Tagline: Coming soon actually
Since I am a sucker for his British accent and boyish charm, any film that stars Hugh Grant is worth seeing in my humble opinion, except maybe "An awfully big adventure", but that would of course be a matter of taste. Tonight I went to see "Love Actually" from the makers of "Four Weddings and a Funeral", "Bridget Jones' Diary" and "Notting Hill". The film proclaims to be the ultimate romantic comedy of 2003, yet it is so much more.
Before I went in I was prepared for the cheesiest movie of all times and when I heard Hugh Grant's voice at the start of the film saying `General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and grief – but I don't see it that – seems to me that love is everywhere,' I was pretty much convinced that I would be bored to bits by worthless romance, especially when he went on about the people on Heathrow airport hugging etc. yet nothing could be further from the truth. As the stories start to unravel, "Love Actually" has a lot of characters that appear to have no common ground whatsoever in the beginning, the British sense of humour just appears on the surface. Hugh Grant plays his characteristic self, or at least the image that we have of him, in this film, the shy and hopeless man looking for love, but who hasn't found it yet because his career got in the way. In this particular film, the career being that of the British Prime Minister who meets the charming Natalie on his first day at 10, Downing Street. Natalie, played by Martine McCutcheon, a working class girl from the `wrong side of the tracks' really makes an magnificent first impression by using most of the dirty words in the English dictionary, and a few beyond. Yet the Prime Minister is smitten with her appearance although others say the girl is a little chubby, to be honest with you, I would kill for a body like hers.
The Prime Minister's sister Karen, played by Emma Thompson, is married,
yet afraid her husband Harry, Alan Rickman, is having an affair with his
very sexy assistant who is definitely after him and isn't even subtle
about it. Flirty is not the word I would use to describe the assistant
Mia, Heike Makatsch, preditor yes, and a very sexual one at that. At the
same time, one of the women in Harry's office, Sarah, Laura Linney, has
a terrible crush on the chief designer Karl, and has done nothing to pursue
this love for him, until they dance at the Christmas party. Unfortunately
Sarah has a schizophrenic brother who calls her every other second which
pretty much ruins any chance of romance she'll ever have. Recently widowed
Daniel, played by Liam Neeson, tries to get through to his stepson, Sam,
Thomas Sangster, who has fallen in love with an
American girl at school. He gives Sam a few pointers how to get the girl,
which was really endearing to see. As the girl is ready to leave to go
back to the States with her mother Sam runs through the airport to declare
his love for her. The theme of the unattainable woman is taken even further
in the case of the man who has a secret love for his best friend's new
wife.
Then there is the has-been rock star Billy Mack, Bill Nighy, who tragically works on his come-back by singing "Christmas is all around", a terrible spin off of the song "Love is all around", which he keeps messing up all through the taping of it. The writer Jamie, Colin Firth, finds out his brother is doing the deed with his girlfriend and leaves broken-hearted to France where he meets a nice Portugese woman, Aurelia, Lucia Moniz. This part of the film was beyond me, the two, Firth and Moniz, do not understand a word of what the other is saying, yet they fall desperately in love, so much that Firth flies to France on Christmas Eve to be with her and asks her to marry him. A little far fetched if you ask me… I'm all for love at first sight, but there has to be some mutual understanding somewhere. As for the scary part of this film, Billy Bob Thornton plays the American president who visits the Prime Minister and makes a pass at Natalie, after which Grant tells him off in a public press conference. In my opinion one of the funniest scenes in the film really! And I almost forgot the stand-in porn stars, a hilarious couple and Colin, the 'ugly' British guy who tries his luck in America to get all the chicks he wants and ends up in Milwaukee to find himself in bed with four gorgeous women all because of his English accent.
"Love Actually" is one of the funniest films I've seen in a long time and I would say if you haven't seen it yet – you should go for it, go see it in these cold, dark weeks before Christmas, it's a feel good movie and you'll have a great laugh!
Reviewer: Athena
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I loved Love, Actually and have it on DVD to watch when I'm feeling the need for something a little hopeful - I also expected it to be trite and saccharine so the depth and the humanity of it was a pleasant surprise - it's one of those movies where everyone in the film are in some form touching - whether in passing or directly (as in the case of H. Grant and Emma Thompson's characters as brother and sister) but you see them come together from time to time in passing, ie: the wedding of Kiera Knightly's character while being filmed by her new husband's best friend who, unbeknownst to her, loves her, where you see several characters from later on sitting in the benches as guests - or pews, I should say ;) The Colin Firth bit I thought was pretty funny - the Portugese gal was helping clean his rented cottage while he was writing a book, and they kept communicating though each in their own language, not realizing that really they were having whole
conversations and it was quite funny to see the things said to each other - then she had to go back to Portugal so he drove her home for the last time, thinking he'd never see her again but then later on they show him learning portugese (in the classroom with the headphones on LOL spouting off some silly phrase along the "the cheese is old and moldy" line LOL) so you see that he hasn't got her out of his head, which leads him to go to Portugal and try to find her at her family's home, where her dad leads him to her, yet her sister's telling everyone in the village he wants to kill her or some nonsense LOL it seemed far fetched but at the same time it also seemed like something a man who'd been burned badly but still didn't want to give up would do -
I'm not a huge fan of Hugh Grant, he just.....oozes, I guess, and I'm not a huge fan, though I do love some of his films in spite of him - this is one, Notting Hill is another (Rhys Ifans is the main reason I love that movie, he's hysterically funny IMHO LOL)
I'm sure Mr. Grant is quite nice in person, but he just has this greasy feel to me, dunno why! Emma Thompson, however, is someone I have a HUGE amount of respect for - I love most of what I've seen her in and really, she's just so versitile, it was nice to see her out of make-up for once ;) **insert pic of her as Professor Trelawney in the Harry Potter flicks here**
I may have to give this another watch soon :D and sadly, the bloke going to the States and getting laid because of his accent.....pretty right on LOL *ducks*
Reviewer: Cerr XOXOXO
If you would like to join in on a discussion about this film, please go to the forum here: Love Actually(bottom)