Love Actually (2003) Review

 

Love Actually (2003)

Love Actually follows 9 sets of people in the weeks leading up to Christmas, and how they’re all connected by love.

So, I’m not usually a fan of Christmas movies because like any bad Hallmark movie, they are too saturated with romance and the such, and my cold, old heart isn’t huge on all that. That being said, I really enjoy Love Actually. It’s a bit corny and very lovey, which considering it’s in the name, I’ll give it a pass, but it also shows the dark sides of love and many of the aspects that aren’t touched upon. It gives us many different scenarios, some more enjoyable, others more sad, with my favorites being The Prime Minister’s, Daniel’s, and washed up rocker Billy Mack’s for whose Christmas cover of Love is All Around by The Troggs is the backdrop to what the movie is set. It’s the deep feelings of love lost and love found that make this one of those classics, from a pure joy perspective. I quite like the soundtrack too, being a good mix of holiday and 2000s pop/rock.

The cast is also wonderful, featuring Collin Firth, Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson, Andrew Lincoln, Hugh Grant, and the delightful Bill Nighy. Nighy as the raunchy and hilarious rockstar Billy is one of my favorites, as his character not only creates the catchy theme song, but is funny and obscene throughout. Liam Neeson and Thomas Brodie-Sangster also had such an interesting chemistry as both had lost their wife/mother, leaning on each other to cope. The cast and the interconnected chemistry they all seem to have is so innocent in a way, even through accidental love, cheating, and friendship.

Love Actually is a heartfelt holiday tale, that even through heartbreak and struggle, is so heartfelt and warm feeling, showing the subjectivity of love and how it can come on the most unexpected of times, with those you least expect. You can either hold on and cherish it, or let it go, but either way, there is still the most ever present emotion among us as people and that is love.

This also has one of the most parodied scenes ever in Andrew Lincoln’s poster board, love confession.

7.2/10