''Solid gold s**t, maestro!''

Rating: 8/10 (3 May 2017)

Richard Curtis may well be best remembered for co-creating sitcoms such as 'The Vicar Of Dibley', 'Blackadder' and 'Mr. Bean', as well as penning sketches for 'Spitting Image' and 'Not The Nine O'Clock News', but he has also made a living out of making movies such as 'Notting Hill', 'Four Weddings & A Funeral', 'Bridget Jones's Diary' and this. Curtis' Christmas rom-com 'Love Actually' rocked the world when it first hit the cinema screens in 2003, winning numerous awards to its creator and its stars.
I feel I need not go into great detail about it as its synopsis has been pretty well listed on here and indeed other sites. My review mainly concerns my opinion on the performances of the cast and the quality of the writing.
I didn't see 'Love Actually' until a year after its release when it was repeated on a satellite movie channel. Though it did not strike me as a wonderful film, far from it, I was rather taken with the thoughtful message behind it, the message being that even in a world full of hate, war, greed, intolerance and destruction, in the words of the famous song ( which is sent-up here ), 'love is all around'.
Impressive in their parts are the late Alan Rickman, Martine McCuttcheon, Hugh Grant ( in what I consider to be his only decent acting role ), Emma Thompson, Bill Nighy, Gregor Fisher, Sienna Guillroy, Martin Freeman, Joanna Page, Kris Marshall, Billy Bob Thornton and Heike Makatsch.
Not so memorable. in my personal view however, were Colin Firth, Liam Neeson, Rowan Atkinson, Laura Linney, Rodrigo Santoro and Olivia Olson.
Many of the cast seem to have profited from the success of the film. Emma Thompson later landed the lead role of the kids' comedy film 'Nanny McPhee'. Bill Nighy and Gregor Fisher both appeared together in the 2010 assassin comedy 'Wild Target', Sienna Guillroy was awarded the role of Jill Valentine in 'Resident Evil: Apocalypse' while Billy Bob Thornton gave us 'Bad Santa'.
'Love Actually' is sometimes hard to follow and at times but on the whole I liked it and, whilst not the biggest favourite of mine, there were some fine moments in the film which made it memorable.
This year, a short sequel was made for 'Comic Relief', reuniting its cast, minus Gregor Fisher, his character having been killed off, much to the dismay of many of the film's fans.