Movie Review: Love Actually (2003)
Directed by Richard Curtis, Love Actually is a British romantic comedy that follows the lives of eight different couples during the weeks leading to Christmas in London, England. I’m not going to attempt to give a synopsis but let’s just say the movie is a collection of loosely inter-related vignettes of the eight couples and their respective love story. The movie stars the likes of Liam Neeson, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Keira Knightley, and Laura Linney. Yes, just look at the movie poster on the left, so many names they could not all fit on it!
Imagine if you were dropped in a giant tub of corn syrup and then rolled around in a big bowl of powdered sugar, that’s how sugary and syrupy this movie is from the very first instant which begins with no less than a voice over. Unlike some, I am not a cynic and I have nothing against cheesy, corny or sugary but this is OVERKILL. Love Actually makes you believe that everyone has love on their mind 24/7 and although that’s obviously not true, I don’t even fault the movie for this. There is nothing glaringly wrong about this movie, it just goes to reinforce all the stereotypes about romantic comedies: overly sugar-coated and cliched premises and characters, fake and unauthentic dialogue and situations, and shallow completely uni-dimensional characters. Running at 135 minutes, Love Actually would benefit from not having as many characters so we can actually stick with each couple longer, especially given the fact that several of the story lines seem completely extraneous (the two porn actors, the dude who goes to Wisconsin for example). The acting is fairly solid but the actors have little time to establish themselves and their characters are all skin-deep stereotypes. Oh the music, the movie is basically a pop song montage after another, talk about overkill!
A charming but ultimately overly glossy, syrupy and implausible celebration of love. Where are the real movies?
C+
Notes: Rated R for sexuality, nudity and language. 135 minutes
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8 Comments
I remember giving this a B or B-, but it was a nice and diverting piece. Granted, I LOVE BRITISH PEOPLE! So it’s possible this is nepotism.
I have never ever read a “bad” review of this movie! Sure its cheesy but if you let yourself get wrapped up in it, its pure genius! Strange that you didn’t like it. Around Christmas so many bloggers posted this as one of their favorite Christmas movies.
“Where are the real movies?”
Obviously not to be found in rom-coms, it seems.
“A charming but ultimately overly glossy, syrupy and implausible celebration of love. Where are the real movies?”
ah, Castor, my son, sometimes people need something unreal to remind them on the value of the real things that surround them. And you need that glossy atmosphere because love should be that – shinny and sweet as a candy, warm, comforting, inspiring and promising, but people often forget that and paint the crimson colours of love into some grayish shades. LOVE ACTUALLY doesn’t do that, and that’s why it’s so great.
I didn’t hate it, it’s pleasant enough and I had a few laughs. It’s just too light, fluffy and sugar coated, there is absolutely nothing genuine about any of the characters or situations. Maybe it caught me at the wrong time
Nope, it’s totally disingenuous. I hated it. In fact I had to will myself to finish it. I didn’t care about any of the characters and I didn’t buy their stories. I know many people are a huge fan of this one, but I completely loathed it. I actually found it kind of dark and obnoxious.
Finally, an honest review about one of the most ‘beloved’ rom-coms! I’m with you Castor, though it was enjoyable at times, it is far too fairy-tale-ish and roll-your-eyes ridiculous (it’ll take two days to list them all). But like Dezmond says though, at least the syrupy/glossy-ness seems to be intentional, it didn’t pretend to be something more meaningful than it is. I did like the bit with Alan Rickman & Emma Thompson, the story line seems to be the most realistic of all, or maybe because I like both actors a lot. For me though, I had the most problem with all the cussing and unnecessary profanity, not to mention the nudity!
I have to admit that Love, Actually is on my list of favourite films EVER, despite its rom-com cliches and cheesiness. (Actually, now that I’ve seen this review I might even watch it again…) It’s a screenplay by Richard Curtis, who also directed for the first time, and I think with that in mind it did live up to my expectations. Looking at it critically it definitely falls short of plenty of films out there in terms of dialogue, shooting style, creativity, etc. etc. but there is a certain joy about it that makes one feel good to have seen it, plus some really lovely stories. My favourites are:
1. The one with Keira Knightley and Andrew Lincoln, where he is in love with his best mate’s wife but is too decent to do anything about it.
2. The one with Colin Firth and Lucia Moniz, where they fall in love despite the language barrier.
3. The one with Laura Linney, who gives up her office crush to be with her brother.
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