“Love Actually” touts itself as the ultimate romantic comedy, but that may not be true. While I personally enjoyed this film, how much a person likes this film is based on what they think romance and love mean.
The reason for this is that love and romance to writer/director Richard Curtis are a bit lecherous.We have characters obsessing over people they have never met, meeting but never revealing the feelings they have for someone for years at a time, falling in love with the maid they have never talked too, and even loving their best friend’s wife since before he married her.
Those are only a few of the wicked and preposterous situations that arise in this film. Truth be told, they are less than half of it. This is a long film, but it never drags because there is so much to tell. Perhaps it is a telltale sign of the attention spans of our time that within this film are enough plots to make ten movies.
Anyway, back to how you, as the audience, may feel about this film. To me, all the horribleness, convenience, and smugness of it all was rather appealing. I enjoyed the film a lot, but I think it was because I’m rather pervy and terribly corny. You have to look at all Curtis has directed (“Bridget Jones’ Diary,” “Bean,” “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” and “Notting Hill” for example) and decide if you would be willing to swallow that type of writing amped up and to the extreme.
For anyone still interested in watching this I will breakdown the rest of the film. The cast is mostly made up of famous actors and actresses from the United Kingdom that you have seen before. There are also a few random Americans peppered throughout. They all do well with the roles they have been given.
For example, Hugh Grant has a lot to say and acts his affable and debonair “Bridget Jones” character when heplays Prime Minister. However, talking to his cute secretary, he is more like the foppish git he was in “Four Weddings.” Keira Knightly has nearly no screen time, and even then she does not do much more than smile (and smile really big).
As for the writing, it charmed me. Sixty-eight percent of this film consisted of awkward moments, but love actually means a lot to me, and that is one of the things the film means. Putting yourself out to be judged, diarrhea of the mouth, and overbearing fear of looking for love are things I love and believe in.
So, I have basically given you all the points of the film to consider. If it is something you would be interested in, I suggest you dive right in. There is a lot of warmth, humor, and above all else love to be found within these two hours and fifteen minutes of English cinema. It’s all very droll, very sentimental, and I feel it is all very good.