Love Actually (2003)

Here we have a Christmas movie preaching about love and relationships and the spirit of giving and honesty, yet somehow it manages to not be cheesy. In fact it is wholly affecting and incredibly funny, often in raunchy ways. A range of (mostly) interconnected people living in London experience love and loss in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Best man Mark (Andrew Lincoln) sees that Peter (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Juliet (Keira Knightley) have a wedding to remember while hiding his love for the bride. Colin (Kris Marshall), one of the caterers, decides British women are too stuffy and on a whim flies to Wisconsin to sleep with American girls who will find his accent sexy. Wedding guest and novelist Jamie (Colin Firth) soon discovers his girlfriend's infidelity and escapes to his vacation home in France, where he connects with Aurelia (Lúcia Moniz), his new non-English-speaking housekeeper. He's friends with John (Martin Freeman), who meets Judy (Joanna Page) when both are stand-ins for a porn film, and Karen (Emma Thompson), a frazzled mother of two.

Karen is tight with Daniel (Liam Neeson), who has just lost his wife and is trying to connect with his lovelorn stepson Sam (Thomas Sangster). Her brother is the prime minister (Hugh Grant), who has found himself attracted to his adorable staff member Natalie (Martine McCutcheon). Karen's husband is Harry (Alan Rickman), a businessman whose overly-forward secretary Mia (Heike Makatsch) pressures him to cheat. One of his employees Sarah (Laura Linney) has been in love with coworker Karl (Rodrigo Santoro) since she saw him, but family obligations keep her from making a move. Through all of this, has-been rocker Billy Mack (Bill Nighy) reinvigorates his career by keeping it real and polluting the airwaves with a crappy Christmas rehash.

Alright so there are like twenty plots happening in this movie and it can seem very convoluted. However, the pacing is tight and the characters so memorable that it actually works really well and there is never a dull moment. Everything fits together in a nice way. I love how a lot of the people would keep popping up in each other's stories, in the background at certain events or just saying hey. Writer/director Curtis has created a beautiful small world in which every side character can have his or her own story told- it's not just the picture-perfect bride and groom who can fall in love.

The cast sports some my favourite British actors, with standout performances from Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, and (as in every movie she's ever in) Emma Thompson. I love Bill Nighy's irreverent, washed up rock star; everything out of his mouth is somehow lewd, hilarious, and endearing all at once. Plus he does a great Robert Palmer ripoff. The cutest couple is probably the one in the weirdest situation: Martin Freeman boyishly romances Joanna Page while they pretend to have sex in front of a bustling film crew. Funniest couple is probably Colin Firth and Lúcia Moniz due to their hilarious mixed-language communications. Unfortunately one of the best moments in the film also involves one of the worst/widest-jawed actors working today. Of course I mean the scene in which lovable Andrew Lincoln expresses his love in cue cards for Keira Knightley (ugh). And, as previously stated, the best part of it all is this. Overall Love Actually is funny, romantic, (at times) heart-wrenching, and consistently interesting. Be sure to check out the deleted stuff on the DVD, as there are a lot of scenes expanding on certain character relationships.

4.5/5