rating:
(out of
4 stars)United Kingdom, United States; 2003
Directed by Richard Curtis; produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Duncan Kenworthy; screenplay by Richard Curtis
Starring Hugh Grant, Keira Knightley, Alan Rickman, Liam Neeson, Colin Firth, Emma Thompson, Laura Linney, Bill Nighy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Martin Freeman, Billy Bob Thornton, Rowan Atkinson, Elisha Cuthbert, Claudia Schiffer, Denise Richards
Below you will find a temporary review for this film. The real (better, more complete) review will be online very soon.
'Love Actually' is one of the better romantic comedies I have seen. It tells
not one love story but a lot. The characters are all linked together in
multiple ways, but with most characters we only learn that in the final
sequences. The love stories include falling in love with people, but also
love between a brother and a sister, a father and his stepson, a singer and
his manager.
The characters include a singer named Billy Mack (Bill Nighy) and his
manager, the Prime Minister (Hugh Grant), the girl he likes named Natalie
(Martine McCutcheon), his sister Karen (Emma Thompson), her husband Harry
(Alan Rickman), his secretary Mia (Heike Makatsch), Daniel (Liam Neeson),
his stepson Sam (Thomas Sangster), Sarah (Laura Linney) who works also with
Harry, writer Jamie (Colin Firth) who loves a girl he can't understand,
Juliet (Keira Knightley) who is loved by two best friends, and a man and a
woman who are stand-ins for porn actors. I haven't mentioned every character
yet, may be not even half, but I think I have mentioned the most important.
Rowan Atkinson also shows up and Billy Bob Thornton is the President of the
US.
The amazing thing here is that you remember every single character without
mixing things up. The characters all have a story that could have been
enough for a movie of its own. Writer director Richard Curtis combines all
of his sweet stories in an ingenious way. It is not only sweet, it is very
funny as well. Especially the story with the two stand-ins, the story about
the singer and the Prime Minister parts are terrific and hilarious at times.
Hugh Grant and his charm take care of that last part. The fact that none of
the stories are uninteresting says enough about this movie. The part with
Laura Linney who is in love with a guy from her work but also has a troubled
brother is one of the more interesting ones, and Linney shows once again how
good she is as an actor in any role.
If you want to see a romantic comedy that is good, interesting, sweet and
funny you should see this one. One little thing I should say. The movie is
rated R and there is a good reason for that. You will not be offended but
there are some images that are not very suitable for the younger viewer.