Refreshingly good

Rating: 8/10 (2 November 2003)

So, it's from the team behind 4 Weddings, Notting Hill and Bridget Jones Diary, it includes the very same Hugh Grant and the 'theme song' is a take-off of the one from 4 Weddings.
That said, it's the best of these by far, and the ensemble nature of the film and its intertwined stories make it a joy - Hugh Grant and Martine McCutcheon, Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman, Bill Nighy and his manager, Colin Firth and his cleaner, Liam Neeson and his stepson, Laura Linney and her brother and many more.
The acting is good and the stories are not so sweet as to be implausible. Not everyone ends up in their preferred romance. But it's the more realistic nature of some of the stories that makes the film more enjoyable and the lack of reality in most Hollywood romantic comedies tends to ruin them. This film is very different. There are some strands that are weak, but most work well and I was particularly impressed with the acting of Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman and Liam Neeson. The cameos are good and used appropriately and the film never feels like it's being stretched. Best of all, we walked out with that genuinely happy feeling (similar to that when I saw Mostly Martha or Bend it Like Beckham). If you have a romantic bone in your body go see it.